1A sum of money paid regularly (typically annually) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits (or reserves).

1. 1.1 A payment divided among a number of people, e.g. winners in a football pool or members of a cooperative.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Among the dividends provided by the Public Choice Center, solitude to plow one's own furrow was distinctly absent.
   • Indeed, payment of dividends could begin as early as next year, with holders of preferred stock receiving the first dividend payments.
   • Blue Sun is already planning to make its first dividend payment to co-op members.
   • A hat-trick looks a fair bet and backing McCoy's rides in the second, third, fourth and fifth races in combination bets should pay dividends.
   • Other funds have been used to invest in local schools or paid out as cash dividends to Torra's members.
2. 1.2 An individual's share of a dividend.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Note also that the loss of the tax credit is only applicable to dividends paid on shares.
   • By using our dividends to buy more shares now, we will benefit when those shares rise in value.
   • The angel has a 10% equity stake in the company and receives dividends on those shares.
   • These are schemes operated by companies that allow investors to re-invest their cash dividends in shares.
   • The funds invest in shares that pay high dividends, such as banks and utilities.
   • Once the corporate tax is paid, dividends received by individuals are tax-free.
   • Under your plan, upper-income individuals also lose their tax cuts for capital gains and dividends.
   • Second, if you are getting dividends on your shares, there is a withholding tax on them.
   • I still have a few more to find, because I tend to take my dividend income in shares, as many long-term investors do.
   • However, at present, we are boosting our long-term returns by reinvesting our dividends into yet more shares.
   • Assume that you reinvest your dividends and capital gains payouts in shares of the fund.

   Synonyms

   share, portion, percentage, premium, return, payback, gain, surplus, profit

   informal cut, take, rake-off, divvy, whack, slice of the cake, piece of the action, pickings
3. 1.3dividends A benefit from an action or policy.
   buying a rail pass may still pay dividends

   Example sentencesExamples

   • "It is a change that will reap big dividends in future years," predicted Mr Hayes.
   • Careful diction also pays dividends in ‘Pascual the Shepherd’, another poem in which alcohol and sex figure.
   • And that's all it is, one giant performance after another in hopes their proficient thespian skills will pay dividends in the long run.
   • Efforts to work with mothers-in-law and other family members may yield higher dividends in the short term.
   • Online bargain hunting can really pay dividends too.
   • Darren's dogged perseverance has finally, after years of thankless effort, begun to pay dividends.
   • Careful cultivation of the UN pays dividends, like the need to present its policies abroad in a more reassuring manner.
   • He admitted some people would not grasp why it was being done - but ‘if people can get to work on time it will probably pay dividends.’
   • When imitation becomes obsession, it's normally a destructive force, but, sometimes it pays dividends.
   • He said: ‘We are absolutely delighted with the results and it has proved our strategy that targeting seats pays dividends.’
   • Our research shows that where groups are tightly defined and disadvantage is concentrated, targeting that group pays dividends.
   • No, my policy of sticking to clear spirits pays dividends.
   • ‘There is a huge psychological effect if you are scrummaging well, which pays dividends in every other aspect of your play,’ he said.
   • And though, inevitably, there are nerves, he is confident that the hard work of the past 18 months will pay dividends.
   • However, I'm now a convert and I think it pays dividends.
   • Listening to children isn't only the right thing to do, it might actually pay dividends here.
   • Establishing personal relationships pays dividends simply because people enjoy recognition.
   • The end of the Cold War brought about a peace dividend in the form of reduced budgets and manpower.
   • This prestigious prize paid immediate dividends, ranking him among the elite.
   • At last these efforts have begun to pay dividends.

   Synonyms

   benefit, advantage, gain, bonus, extra, added extra, plus, fringe benefit, additional benefit

   informal perk

   formal perquisite

2Mathematics
A number to be divided by another number.