pay one's dues

pay one's dues
a) To outlay money which is owed as a membership fee or price of admission.

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.

b) To acquire status or to earn the right to enjoy certain benefits, especially through lengthy experience, hardship, or service to an organization.

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


Wikipedia foundation.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • pay one's dues — ► pay one s dues fulfil one s obligations. Main Entry: ↑due …   English terms dictionary

  • pay one’s dues — tv. to serve one’s time in a menial role. (See also pay one’s dues (to society).) □ I spent some time as a bus boy, so I’ve paid my dues in the serving business. □ You have to start out at the bottom. Pay your dues, and then you’ll appreciate… …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • pay one's dues — phrasal 1. : to experience life s hardships : earn a right or position through experience, suffering, or hard work 2. : to suffer the consequences of or penalty for an act * * * pay one s dues (informal) To work hard and suffer hardship before… …   Useful english dictionary

  • pay one's dues — idi pay one s dues, to earn respect by working hard and accumulating experience …   From formal English to slang

  • pay one's dues — phrasal 1. to earn a right or position through experience, suffering, or hard work 2. (also pay dues) pay intransitive verb 3 …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • pay one's dues — fulfil one s obligations. → due …   English new terms dictionary

  • pay one’s dues to society — tv. to serve a prison or jail sentence. □ I served ten years in prison. I’ve paid my dues to society. The matter is settled. □ I took my medicine and paid my dues. Stop trying to punish me more …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • pay — [n] earnings from employment allowance, bacon*, bread*, commission, compensation, consideration, defrayment, emoluments, fee, hire*, honorarium, income, indemnity, meed, payment, perquisite, pittance, proceeds, profit, reckoning, recompensation,… …   New thesaurus

  • dues — fee for membership, 1660s, from plural of DUE (Cf. due). To pay (one s) dues in the figurative sense is from 1943. Giue them their due though they were diuels [1589] …   Etymology dictionary

  • One Big Union (concept) — The One Big Union is a concept which emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries amongst working class trade unionists. Unions initially organised as craft or trade unions. Workers were organized by their skill: carpenters, plumbers,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”