To pay somebody off

[Guest]

Test No. incompl/advan-4 "Newspaper Headlines", question 3

When the building was completed, all the workers were paid ..........

(a) off
(b) through
(c) out
(d) over

Test No. incompl/advan-4 "Newspaper Headlines", answer 3

When the building was completed, all the workers were paid off.

Correct answer: (a) off
_________________________

Could you explain why out is choosen in this sentence??

[Torsten]

To pay somebody out means to give them the amount of money they are entitled to.

TOEIC listening, photographs: After a car accident

[Rich7]

I assume here the correct answer is "pay off"
hence your explanation.

Pay out:http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pay%20out

Also:http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861724333

[Torsten]

Yes of course, pay off is the correct expression. Thanks for pointing out.

TOEIC listening, photographs: Food preparation

[Lucci]

[Vea]

Be paid off means someone succeed in getting compensation.

[Puppet]

Hi,

I'd like to ask something related .. kind of ;
What's the difference between "pay off'' and ''pay up''?