pay the freight

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

1. To pay for the cost of transport.
2. (idiomatic) To bear the cost.
   • 1990, J. A. Jance, Minor in Possession, page 168:

     I don't want to pay the freight on the kind of conspicuous consumption that thrives on Mercedes or Jaguars.

   • 1997, J. A. Jance, Name Withheld, page 58:

     Stores that were large enough to pay the freight hired their own in-house detectives and security, but lots of companies were far too small to handle that kind of expense on a full-time basis.

   • 2000, G. M. Ford, Last Ditch, page 62:

     McColl was the lawyer of choice for those who could pay the freight.