pay attention

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English

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To attend; to be attentive; to focus one's attention.
    Please pay attention to the danger signs.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      I was on my way to the door, but all at once, through the fog in my head, I began to sight one reef that I hadn't paid any attention to afore.
    • 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, page 54:
      Just south of Wamphray station they overtook the runaway. The dim figure of Mitchell could be seen sitting huddled behind the stormboard. They shouted and whistled. He paid no attention.

Synonyms

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Translations

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