pick up the tab

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

pick up the tab (third-person singular simple present picks up the tab, present participle picking up the tab, simple past and past participle picked up the tab)

(intransitive, idiomatic, chiefly US) To accept a bill and pay it, especially at a bar or restaurant.
- 2014 January 30, Seth Kugel, “Wintertime Bargains in Budapest”, in The New York Times‎:
  When the bill came to just 33,000 forints, I did something very out of character: I picked up the tab. It blew the budget for the day, but felt great.
- 2020 March 25, Philip Haigh, “Analysis: Where the money comes from... and where it goes”, in Rail, page 34:
  Meanwhile, the taxpayer picked up the tab for over 50% of track and train costs at Northern, Merseyrail and the Transport for Wales rail operation.

References

“pick up the tab”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.