Word.ws English Dictionary

pay for play

pay for play is the alternative form of pay to play.

Meaning of pay to play

Noun

pay to play (uncountable)

  1. Any kind of charge to engage in an activity.
    1. (US, especially) Campaign contributions (or outright bribes or graft) required to avail oneself of certain opportunities controlled by politicians, such as uncompetitive government contracts.

See all 5 meanings of pay to play

Questions about pay for play

What is pay for play the alternative form of?
Pay for play is the alternative form of pay to play.

Words near pay for play in the dictionary

  1. pay dividends
  2. pay down
  3. pay for
  4. pay for itself
  5. pay for one's whistle
  6. pay for play
  7. pay fors
  8. pay forward
  9. pay freeze
  10. pay freezes
  11. pay gap

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pay for play (page history and authors); pay to play (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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