A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

pavement artist (UK) • pavement artist (U.S.)
pavement artist (UK)—
1
. (also: flagstone artist) an artist who
draws on paving stones with colored chalks, hoping to be
given money by passers-by: No one but the pavement artist
can have any notion of how great the amount of dust is in
London’s streets. 2. (sl.) an espionage agent engaged in street
surveillance on a suspect, etc.: His specialty was hitting the
streets and finding out information. In the vernacular of his
profession he became known as a top-notch “pavement artist.”
pavement artist (U.S.)—an artist who displays paintings for
sale on a pavement: Outside the station a small crowd were
watching with interest as a pavement artist copied and
enlarged a painting from a postcard.
pay a compliment to someone • pay one’s
 compliments to someone
pay a compliment to someone —(also: make a compliment to
someone) express praise or admiration for a person in a remark:
Rhonda pays a compliment to her husband, Mike, for staying
as loving as he was when they first met.
pay one’s compliments to someone —(also: make one’s compli-
ments to someone) express good wishes or respect to a person:
All things having satisfied the admiral, he paid his compli-
ments to Raoul, and gave the last orders for sailing.
pay a heavy price for something • pay the penalty
for something
pay a heavy price for something —suffer a serious disadvantage
or loss in return for smth. one has gained: Our troops recap-
tured the city, but they paid a heavy price for it.
pay the penalty for something —suffer a disadvantage or loss
because of wrongdoing or an error: I’m paying the penalty for
drinking too much last night; I’ve got a dreadful headache!
pay as one goes • pay one’s way
pay as one goes —said of the practice of paying debts as they
are incurred: You pay as you go, so there is no need to commit
to any monthly figure — you simply pay for what you use.
pay one’s way —(also: pay one’s own way) pay all of one’s debts
and living expenses: No matter how much I tried, there was
just no way I could pay my way through school without a job.