pay one's dues

English

Verb

to pay one's dues

1. To outlay money which is owed as a membership fee or price of admission.
   • 1871, Thomas Hardy, Desperate Remedies, ch. 8,

     The carrier to Casterbridge came up as Edward stepped into the road, and jumped down from the van to pay toll. . . . The carrier paid his dues.

2. (idiomatic) To acquire status or to earn the right to enjoy certain benefits, especially through lengthy experience, hardship, or service to an organization.
   • 2005, Donald Morrison, "Still Enough Wrongs To Write," Time, 6 Nov.,

     He too championed the anti-apartheid cause, paid his dues, had his works banned.