1 N‑COUNT A page is one side of one of the pieces of paper in a book, magazine, or newspaper. Each page usually has a number printed at the top or bottom. □ Where's your book? Take it out and turn to page 4. □ [+ of ] …the front page of the Guardian. □ [+ of ] …1,400 pages of top-secret information.
2 N‑COUNT The pages of a book, magazine, or newspaper are the pieces of paper it consists of. □ [+ of ] He turned the pages of his notebook. □ Over the page you can read all about the six great books on offer.
3 N‑COUNT You can refer to an important event or period of time as a page of history. [LITERARY ] □ [+ in ] …a new page in the country's political history.
4 VERB If someone who is in a public place is paged , they receive a message, often over a speaker, telling them that someone is trying to contact them. □ [be V -ed] He was paged repeatedly as the flight was boarding. □ [have n V -ed] I'll have them paged and tell them you're here.
5 N‑COUNT A page is a young person who takes messages or does small jobs for members of the United States Congress or state legislatures. [AM ]
pag|eant /pæ dʒənt/ (pageants )
1 N‑COUNT A pageant is a colourful public procession, show, or ceremony. Pageants are usually held out of doors and often celebrate events or people from history.
2 N‑COUNT A pageant or a beauty pageant is a competition in which young women are judged to decide which one is the most beautiful.
pag|eant|ry /pæ dʒəntri/ N‑UNCOUNT People use pageantry to refer to the colourful and formal things that are done for special official or royal occasions, for example the wearing of special clothes and the playing of special music. □ …all the pageantry of an official state visit.
page|boy /pe I dʒbɔ I / (pageboys ) also page-boy N‑COUNT A pageboy is a small boy who accompanies the bride at a wedding. [mainly BRIT ] in AM, usually use page
pag|er /pe I dʒə r / (pagers ) N‑COUNT A pager is a small electronic device which you can carry around with you and which gives you a number or a message when someone is trying to contact you. [mainly BRIT ] in AM, usually use beeper
pa ge-tu rn|er (page-turners ) N‑COUNT You can refer to an exciting novel, such as a thriller, as a page-turner . □ It's an extraordinarily compelling page-turner that also happens to be a major work of literature.
pa|go|da /pəgoʊ də/ (pagodas ) N‑COUNT A pagoda is a tall building which is used for religious purposes, especially by Buddhists, in China, Japan, and South-East Asia. Pagodas are usually very highly decorated.
pah /pæ / EXCLAM Pah is used in writing to represent the sound someone makes when showing disgust or contempt.
paid /pe I d/
1 Paid is the past tense and past participle of pay .
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Paid workers, or people who do paid work, receive money for the work that they do. □ Apart from a small team of paid staff, the organisation consists of unpaid volunteers.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] If you are given paid holiday, you get your wages or salary even though you are not at work. □ …10 days' paid holiday for house hunting.
4 ADJ [adv ADJ ] If you are well paid , you receive a lot of money for the work that you do. If you are badly paid , you do not receive much money. □ …a well-paid accountant. □ Fruit-picking is boring, badly paid and very hard work.
5 PHRASE If an unexpected event puts paid to someone's hopes, chances, or plans, it completely ends or destroys them. [mainly BRIT ] □ …a series of airforce strikes that put paid to the General's hopes of fighting on.
pai d-up also paid up
1 ADJ [ADJ n] If a person or country is a paid-up member of a group, they are an enthusiastic member or are recognized by most people as being a member of it. □ Despite a past in an inner-city comprehensive, I am a fully paid-up member of the middle classes now.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] If someone is a paid-up member of a political party or other organization, they have paid the money needed to become an official member. □ …a fully paid-up member of the Labour Party.
pail /pe I l/ (pails ) N‑COUNT A pail is a bucket, usually made of metal or wood. [mainly AM , also BRIT , OLD-FASHIONED ]
pain ◆◆◇ /pe I n/ (pains , pained )
1 N‑VAR Pain is the feeling of great discomfort you have, for example when you have been hurt or when you are ill. □ …back pain. □ …a bone disease that caused excruciating pain. □ [+ in ] I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. □ …chest pains. ● PHRASE If you are in pain , you feel pain in a part of your body, because you are injured or ill. □ She was writhing in pain, bathed in perspiration.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Pain is the feeling of unhappiness that you have when something unpleasant or upsetting happens. □ …grey eyes that seemed filled with pain.
3 VERB [no cont] If a fact or idea pains you, it makes you feel upset and disappointed. □ [V n] This public acknowledgment of Ted's disability pained my mother. □ [V n to-inf] It pains me to think of you struggling all alone.
4 PHRASE In informal English, if you call someone or something a pain or a pain in the neck , you mean that they are very annoying or irritating. Expressions such as a pain in the arse and a pain in the backside in British English, or a pain in the ass and a pain in the butt in American English, are also used, but most people consider them offensive. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ]