pay down

verb

paid down; paying down; pays down

transitive verb

: to reduce (a debt) by repaying in part

Examples of pay down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But board members and the Ellison team disagreed over how much of the remaining $3 billion would be used to pay down debt and how much money would go to shareholders. Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2024 Credit card balances declined slightly from the all-time high, but that follows a seasonal pattern, when consumers start a post-holiday New Year’s financial diet and then use their tax refund money to pay down debt. Jennifer Morris, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024 Americans’ credit card debt and late payments are rising, and card interest rates remain high, but many people lack a plan to pay down their debt. Caitlin Kelly, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2024 During the six months ended March 31, 2024, the Company had operating cash provided by operations of $1.0 million, used $0.5 million to pay down its line of credit and spent $0.2 million on acquisitions of property and equipment and $1.0 million on the acquisition of intellectual property. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for pay down 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pay down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pay down was in 1975

Dictionary Entries Near pay down

Cite this Entry

“Pay down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pay%20down. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on pay down

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