Synonyms for pay the piper

Most common

pay the price · pay the penalty · pay the fiddler

All synonyms

Verb

Definitions

1. v. 1

   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.

   [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.