paymaster

noun

pay·​mas·​ter ˈpā-ˌma-stər How to pronounce paymaster (audio)
: an officer or agent whose duty it is to pay salaries or wages

Examples of paymaster in a Sentence

She worked as the company's paymaster for 22 years.
Recent Examples on the Web But the gangs would multiply with support from political paymasters who wielded them as tools of oppression. Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 26 Nov. 2023 Brydges was a paymaster. Myrna Petlicki, chicagotribune.com, 22 Feb. 2022 Behind it all is a powerful paymaster and his criminal gang. Clare Egan, Longreads, 18 Mar. 2022 A lot of the port’s ability to carry on during the economic downturn is attributable to the military, a reliable paymaster and one of San Antonio’s biggest employers. Greg Jefferson, ExpressNews.com, 12 June 2020 The winner will spend the next four years working as the city’s auditor, chief accounting officer and paymaster, sending payment to contractors and cops alike. Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2022 As the state’s paymaster, Yee is tasked with carrying out the final details of spending taxpayer dollars. Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2022 Rodriguez was made paymaster of the Mexican Army by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution. Vincent T. Davis, San Antonio Express-News, 27 Oct. 2021 DeLong had been in the job for one month when, on February 19, two Confederate rebels, the Sumter’s paymaster, Henry Myers, and Thomas Tunstall, the former U.S. Consul to Cadiz, Spain, arrived in Morocco on a French ship en route to Cadiz. Graham Cornwell, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Jan. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paymaster.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1537, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of paymaster was in 1537

Dictionary Entries Near paymaster

Cite this Entry

“Paymaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paymaster. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

paymaster

noun
pay·​mas·​ter -ˌmas-tər How to pronounce paymaster (audio)
: an officer or agent of an employer whose duty it is to pay salaries or wages
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