pay the bills

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

pay the bills (third-person singular simple present pays the bills, present participle paying the bills, simple past and past participle paid the bills)

1. (idiomatic, of a job) To provide enough income to sustain one's lifestyle.

   Being a dentist isn't so glamorous, but it pays the bills.

Translations

provide enough income

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 維持生活／维持生活 (zh) (wéichí shēnghuó), (slang) 當飯吃／当饭吃 (dāng fàn chī)

• Dutch: rekeningen betalen
• Finnish: tuoda voita leivän päälle
• French: payer les factures
• German: die Rechnungen bezahlen
• Hungarian: meg lehet élni belőle, ki lehet jönni belőle
• Japanese: 勘定を支払う (かんじょうをしはらう, kanjō o shiharau)
• Polish: płacić rachunki impf
• Portuguese: pagar as contas
• Russian: плати́ть по счета́м (platítʹ po sčetám)
• Spanish: pagar las cuentas
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

See also

• meal ticket
• pecunia non olet