paycheck

P3A1Y4C3H4E1C3K5
UK, US/ˈpeɪ.t͡ʃɛk/

noun

A periodic payment, usually in the form of a paper check, received by an employee from an employer for work performed.

“He was delighted after getting his first paycheck, but subsequently blew it all on the horses.”

Similar
payroll check
Less commonScrabble 24

Meanings

nounpaycheck (plural paychecks)

plural paychecks · alternative pay check · alternative paycheque · alternative pay cheque

  1. USA periodic payment, usually in the form of a paper check, received by an employee from an employer for work performed.

    He was delighted after getting his first paycheck, but subsequently blew it all on the horses.

    5 more examples

    The teachers are not there to help you. Most oft them are still freelancers and the last thing they want is more competition. They are there because they need a steady paycheck and they hope to score some pussy!

    1991, Daniel Clowes, Art School Confidential

    They took my whole paycheck and I know why / 'Cause I got high, 'cause I got high

    2001, “Because I Got High”, in Because I Got High, performed by Afroman

    With the help of some low-end boosting, Dinklage musters a decent amount of kid-appropriate menace—although he never does explain his gift for finding chunks of ice shaped like pirate ships—but Romano and Leary mainly sound bored, droning through their lines as if they’re simultaneously texting the contractors building the additions on their houses funded by their fat sequel paychecks.

    2012 July 12, Sam Adams, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, in AV Club

    We're a super sad generation / Killing time and losing our paychecks

    2019, “Super Sad Generation”, performed by Arlo Parks

    Last week, TSA agents missed their first full paychecks. Some employees are still at work, with the promise of back pay when the shutdown ends. But others can't or won't forego paychecks.

    2026 March 23, Barry Petchesky, “ICE Agents Deployed To Nation’s Swamped Airports To Stand Around And Do Nothing”, in Defector, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2026

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna check issued in payment of wages or salary

Similar
payroll check
Broader
checkbank checkcheque

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂ḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*péh₂ḱs
  3. Proto-Italic*pāks
  4. Latinpāx
  5. Latinpācō
  6. Old Frenchpaiier
  7. Middle Englishpayen
  8. Englishpay
  9. Proto-Indo-European*tek-
  10. Proto-Indo-Iranian*kšáyati
  11. Proto-Iranian*xšáyati
  12. Old Persian𐏋 (XŠ)
  13. Middle Persian𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/)
  14. Classical Persianشاه (šāh)
  15. Medieval Latinscaccus
  16. Old Frencheschec
  17. Middle Englishchek
  18. Englishcheck
  19. Englishpaycheck

From pay (“wages or salary”) + check (“a means of payment”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian заплата, надница
  • заплата (zaplata)money received on payday as payment for work performed
  • надница (nadnica)money received on payday as payment for work performed
Polish wypłata
  • wypłatamoney received on payday as payment for work performed
Russian зарпла́та
  • зарпла́та (zarpláta)money received on payday as payment for work performed
Spanish cheque de pago, cheque salarial
  • cheque de pagomoney received on payday as payment for work performed
  • cheque salarialmoney received on payday as payment for work performed
Cite this entry
APA

paycheck. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paycheck

MLA

“paycheck.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paycheck. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paycheck,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paycheck.

Source: paycheck on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.