pay through the nose
(Redirected from pay through one's nose)
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb[edit]
pay through the nose (third-person singular simple present pays through the nose, present participle paying through the nose, simple past and past participle paid through the nose)
- (idiomatic) To pay an exorbitant or excessive amount, either in money or in some other manner.
- Hypernym: pay over the odds
- 1650, George Walker, Anglo-Tyrannus, London: George Thompson, p. 20,[1]
- Observe here the happy estate of our Ancestors under Monarchy, who, if they gained but this advantage […] of receiving a few good Grants, and enjoying a pittance of Freedom, once in 4 or 5 ages when their King was too young to play Rex, and there hapned a wise and honest Protector; yet were sure to pay through the nose for it afterwards with double and treble interest for forbearance.
- 1918, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 36, in The Valley of the Giants:
- "You'll pay through the nose for this, you scoundrel," Sexton whimpered. "I'll fix you, you traitor."
- 1921, John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga, part 2, ch. 4:
- That fellow would milk the settlements somehow, and make his family pay through the nose to keep him out of bankruptcy.
Translations[edit]
to pay a high price
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