buy and pay for
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.05 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see buy, pay, for.
Example Sentences
- "I presume that the lobbyists of those interests who can afford to buy and pay for special privileges, will read with a great deal of glee that this is now the order of the day."
- "The problem was, C.C. had a way of surrounding himself with people he'd bought and paid for, so I suppose you can't really blame him for being a bit confused."
- ""The Constitution has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican Party," wrote Anderson to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, denouncing his affiliation with the party."
Etymology
In the sense "bribe, corrupt", the verb is much rarer than and is probably a back-formation from the adjective bought and paid for.
Inflected Forms
buys and pays for (present, singular)
buying and paying for (participle, present)
bought and paid for (participle, past)
bought and paid for (past)