pay to play

English

Alternative forms

pay-to-play (noun, especially in attributive use)

Etymology

From sometime practice of charging a fee for admission to a gambling game.

Verb

pay to play

Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see pay,‎ to,‎ play.
(by extension) To incur a cost to participate in an activity
1. especially (US, politics) To make a campaign contribution or illegal payment to avail oneself of business or other opportunities controlled by politicians

Noun

pay to play (uncountable)

Any kind of charge to engage in an activity
1. especially (US, politics) Campaign contributions (or outright bribes or graft) required to avail oneself of certain opportunities controlled by politicians, such as uncompetitive government contracts.

References

pay to play on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
pay to play at OneLook Dictionary Search

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.