pay

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• transitive verb To coat or cover (seams of a ship, for example) with waterproof material such as tar or asphalt.
• intransitive verb To give money to in return for goods or services rendered.
• intransitive verb To give (money) in exchange for goods or services.
• intransitive verb To discharge or settle (a debt or obligation).
• intransitive verb To bear (a cost or penalty, for example) in recompense.
• intransitive verb To yield as a return.
• intransitive verb To afford an advantage to; profit.
• intransitive verb To give or bestow.
• intransitive verb To make (a visit or call).
• intransitive verb To let out (a line or cable) by slackening.
• intransitive verb To give money in exchange for goods or services.
• intransitive verb To discharge a debt or obligation.
• intransitive verb To bear a cost or penalty in recompense.
• intransitive verb To be profitable or worthwhile.
• adjective Of, relating to, giving, or receiving payments.
• adjective Requiring payment to use or operate.
• adjective Yielding valuable metal in mining.
• noun The act of paying or state of being paid.
• noun Money given in return for work done; salary; wages.
• noun Recompense or reward.
• noun Retribution or punishment.
• noun Paid employment.
• noun A person considered with regard to his or her credit or reliability in discharging debts.
• idiom (pay (one's) dues) To earn a given right or position through hard work, long-term experience, or suffering.
• idiom (pay (one's) way) To contribute one's own share; pay for oneself.
• idiom (pay the piper) To bear the consequences of something.
• idiom (pay through the nose) To pay excessively.

from The Century Dictionary.

• Nautical, to coat or cover with tar or pitch, or with a composition of tar, resin, turpentine, tallow, and the like: as, to pay a seam or a rope.
• To appease; satisfy; content; please.
• To make satisfaction or amends for.
• To satisfy the claims of; compensate, as for goods, etc., supplied, or for services rendered; recompense; requite; remunerate; reward: as, to pay workmen or servants; to pay one's creditors.
• To discharge, as a debt or an obligation, by giving or doing that which is due: as, to pay taxes; to pay vows.
• To bear; defray: as, who will pay the cost? hence, to defray the expense of: as, to pay one's way in the world.
• To give; deliver; hand over as in discharge of a debt: as, to pay money; to pay the price.