What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Pay vs By - What's the difference?

pay | by |

As nouns the difference between pay and by

is that pay is money given in return for work; salary or wages while by is (card games) a pass.

As adjectives the difference between pay and by

is that pay is operable or accessible on deposit of coins while by is out of the way, subsidiary.

As a verb pay

is to give money or other compensation to in exchange for goods or services or pay can be (nautical|transitive) to cover (the bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc) with tar or pitch, or a waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc; to smear.

As a preposition by is

near or next to.

As an adverb by is

along a path which runs by the speaker.

As an interjection by is

.

pay

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) ).

Verb

  • To give money or other compensation to in exchange for goods or services.
  • * , chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about
  • (ambitransitive) To discharge, as a debt or other obligation, by giving or doing what is due or required.
  • * (Bible), (Psalms) xxxvii. 21
  • The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= T time , passage=Yet in “Through a Latte, Darkly”, a new study of how Starbucks has largely avoided paying tax in Britain, Edward Kleinbard […] shows that current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate what he calls “stateless income”: […]. In Starbucks’s case, the firm has in effect turned the process of making an expensive cup of coffee into intellectual property.}}
  • To be profitable for.
  • To give (something else than money).
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • not paying me a welcome
  • *
  • They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.
  • To be profitable or worth the effort.
  • To discharge an obligation or debt.
  • To suffer consequences.
  • Derived terms
    * hell to pay * pay as you earn * pay-as-you-go * pay attention * pay back * pay down * payee * payer * pay for * pay for it * pay forward * pay in * payment * pay off * pay one's dues * pay one's respects * pay out * pay-per-view * pay respect * pay the bills * pay the freight * pay the penalty * pay the piper * pay through the nose * pay up * rob Peter to pay Paul * take or pay * you get what you pay for
    Hypernyms
    * (to give money) compensate
    Hyponyms
    * (to give money) bribe, disburse, fund, pay off, pay out, pay up, reimburse

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Money given in return for work; salary or wages.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10 , passage=The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.}}
    Derived terms
    * combat pay * danger pay

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Operable or accessible on deposit of coins.
  • Pertaining to or requiring payment.
  • Etymology 2

    (etyl) peier, from (etyl) (lena) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (nautical) To cover (the bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc.) with tar or pitch, or a waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.
  • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * * 1000 English basic words ----

    by

    English

    (wikipedia by)

    Alternative forms

    * bye (archaic for preposition and adverb, not used for abbreviation, preferred for noun and interjection)

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Near or next to.
  • At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval.
  • (Indicates the actor in a clause with its verb in the passive voice): Through the action or presence of.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 28, author=Jon Smith, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Valencia 1-1 Chelsea , passage=Valencia threatened sporadically in the first half with Miguel having a decent effort deflected wide by Ashley Cole, while Jordi Alba's near-post cross was flicked into the sidenetting by Pablo Hernandez.}}
  • (Indicates the creator of a work): Existing through the authorship etc. of.
  • (Indicates the cause of a condition or event): Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of.
  • * 1874 , (Thomas Hardy), (Far from the Madding Crowd) , 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics publication of 1912 Wessex edition, p.109:
  • In other directions the fields and sky were so much of one colour by the snow that it was difficult in a hasty glance to tell whereabouts the horizon occurred.
  • (Indicates a means): Involving/using the means of.
  • *
  • *:"I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by —except steal."
  • (Indicates a source of light): Medium emanating from hot sources.
  • * 1945 , Neva L. Boyd, Handbook of Recreational Games , 1975 edition, ISBN 0486232042, p.16:
  • Players: Can we get there by candlelight? ¶ Gatekeepers: Yes and back again.
  • * 1960 , , (One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish)
  • By' the light of the moon, / ' by the light of a star / they walked all night
  • (senseid).
  • (Indicates the amount of some progression): With a change of.
  • (Indicates a referenced source): According to.
  • (Indicates an oath): With the authority of.
  • Derived terms

    * bit by bit * by degrees * by dint of * by one's lonesome * by oneself * by means of * by rights * by the book * by the by * by the bye * by the way * by your leave * by way of * do good by * do right by * hard by * side by side

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Along a path which runs by the speaker.
  • I watched as it passed by .
  • In the vicinity, near.
  • There was a shepherd close by .
    The shop is hard by the High Street.
  • * Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
  • [The helmsman] steered with no end of a swagger while you were by ; but if he lost sight of you, he became instantly the prey of an abject funk
  • To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.
  • I'll stop by on my way home from work.
    We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.
  • Aside, away.
  • The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.

    Derived terms

    * by the by * drop by * full and by * nearby * pass by * passerby * put by * right by * stand by * stop by * bypass

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Out of the way, subsidiary.
  • Antonyms

    * main, principal

    Derived terms

    * bypass * byroad * bystander * byway

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (card games) A pass
  • Interjection

    (en interjection)