dividend

noun

1. A cash payment of money by a company to its shareholders, usually made periodically (e.g., quarterly or annually).

   “On all dividends which do not exceed six per centum per annum, eight per centum; on dividends exceeding six per centum and not exceeding seven per centum, a tax of nine per centum...”

   “Quarterly or annual dividend payments provide good income streams for investors who need cash in the short-term. And for those playing the longer game, dividends can be reinvested to buy even more shares in those same companies.”

2. A number or expression that is to be divided by another.

   “In "42 ÷ 3" the dividend is the 42.”

3. (figuratively)Beneficial results from a metaphorical investment (of time, effort, etc.)

   “His 10,000 hours of practice and recitals eventually paid dividends when he become first-chair violinist.”

   “That blood and pain paid a dividend, too, even when the subject wasn't a sorcerer.”

   “The money I'd spent on getting scuba certified was about to pay a dividend. My half-baked escape plan came together.”

   “'Why not: you, Elvira, will shortly pay a dividend, that is, have a child.'”

   “The United States is not the only country where xenophobia pays dividends for politicians.”

verb

1. (transitive)To pay out a dividend.

   “He held instead that the words "sell or otherwise dispose of" in Clause 2 of the Shareholders' Agreement prevented the dividending of the shares in Hawker Holdings to the shareholders of Hawker Siddeley […]”

   “Therefore, $125 million of 1983 Preferred Shares (Blue Jay) would be tendered for retirement with $135 million of the $370 million dividended up to Blue Jay.”