pays to play

Verb

pay to play (third-person singular simple present pays to play, present participle paying to play, simple past and past participle paid to play)

1. (broadly) To incur a cost to participate in an activity; especially, in a corrupt way.
   • Whether or not the father of our country was prone to campaign overkill [referring to a quoted passage about George Washington handing out rum, wine, beer, and cider for electioneering efforts], the above points up the fact that running for public office has long required the expenditure of...1986, United States Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, The Transformation in American Politics: Implications for Federalism, United States Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental...
   1. (US, broadly, especially) To make a campaign contribution or illegal payment to avail oneself of business or other opportunities controlled by politicians or civil servants.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pay, to, play.

See all 5 meanings of pay to play