Meaning of pay the piper | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To pay expenses for something, and thus be in a position to be in control.
   idiomatic
2. To pay a monetary or other debt or experience unfavorable consequences, especially when the payment or consequences are inevitable or a result of something one has enjoyed.
   idiomatic

Examples

“Those that pay⟳ the piper must command the tune⟳.”

“Be off with you, my boy, and play⟳ with your caucuses and leading articles and historic parties and great leaders and burning questions and the rest⟳ of your toys. I am going back to my counting house to pay⟳ the piper and call⟳ the tune⟳.”

“[T]he very constitution of society is based upon this volunteer⟳ system of paying the piper. Honest men pay⟳ the piper for rogues, and full purses for empty ones.”

“He wanted to get⟳ rich too quickly I suppose⟳. . . . He's got to pay⟳ the piper.”

“Roosevelt never fully recovered his health, but he refused any regret⟳. "I am always willing to pay⟳ the piper," he once wrote, "when I have⟳ had a good dance⟳."”

CEFR level