pony up

present singular third person ponies up · participle present ponying up · participle past ponied up · past ponied up

1. intransitiveslangtransitiveTo pay (usually a bill, debt or due).

   Every man, save Silvy, vociferously swore that he had ponied up his "quarter:" whereupon the landlady observed that Silvy the less had not paid his reckoning.

   1824 September 28, “Paunch Hogabout”, in The Atlantic Magazine, volume 1, number 5, page 343

   4 more examples

   Know what I'd do with that dough ... if I'd the luck to have it?¶ I'd buy War Bonds—and, God, would I hang onto them! (Bonds buy guns—and give you four bucks for your three) ... I'd pony up for taxes cheerfully (knowing they're the cheapest way to pay for this war) ... I'd sock some in the savings bank, while I could ... I'd lift a load off my mind with more life insurance.

   1944 February 7, War Advertising Council, “Advert”, in Life, volume 16, number 6, page 123

   If entertaining TV blusterer John McLaughlin felt any contrition after ponying up a six-figure sum to settle a sexual-harassment suit in 1989, he is evidently over it.

   1992 July/August, “Naked City”, in Spy, page 18

   Only then did we learn that he doled out billions in secret, last-minute bonuses to his staff last month, just before Bank of America took over and just before the government ponied up a second bailout to cover Merrill’s unexpected $15 billion fourth-quarter loss.

   2009 January 25, Frank Rich, “No Time for Poetry”, in The New York Times

   Fans willing to pony up somewhere between $900 and $1,400 — not including airfare or bar tab — can rub shoulders with their favorite acts and enjoy three to five days of food, music, Caribbean sunshine and extras like a photo with the band (no autographs, please).

   2012 March 30, Joe Levy, “Rockers at Sea”, in The New York Times

   Synonyms: cough up, pay up, ante up, cough up, defray, do the needful, expend, foot the bill