put paid to

Verb

put paid to (third-person singular simple present puts paid to, present participle putting paid to, simple past and past participle put paid to)

1. (UK, dated) To mark a bill or a debt record as "paid".
   • Well, then, I'll put paid to that little account.1893 December, Mrs. Alexander, “Found Wanting”, in Belgravia, volume 82, page 353

   Synonyms:

   put a stop to, put an end to, finish off

2. (UK) To put an end to.
   • When peace came in 1802 she regained a measure of control, but it was wrested from her when war with Britain broke out once more in 1805 and Nelson put paid to Spanish sea power in the Atlantic at the Battle of Trafalgar.1992, Edwin Williamson, The Penguin History of Latin America, London; New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 204
   • If Harry had always seemed a sickly child, Harrow put paid to notions that he was really a physical weakling.2010, David Brown, Palmerston: A Biography
3. (UK, idiomatic) To terminate; to cancel (plans or expectations); to preclude (possibilities); to stop (something) once and for all.
   • The rain put paid to our plans for a picnic.