payoff

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The return on an investment.
• noun The discharge of a debt or obligation.
• noun The benefit gained as the result of a previous action.
• noun The climax of a narrative or sequence of events.
• noun An amount paid to a plaintiff to settle a lawsuit out of court.
• noun A bribe.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun profit or gain from an action; -- used broadly.
• noun retribution, payback.
• noun The act of giving or receiving money or other valuable consideration as a bribe.
• noun The money or item given as a bribe.
• noun same as compensation 2.
• noun The climax or final result of an event or endeavor; the denoument of a narrative.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Alternative spelling of pay-off.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the final payment of a debt
• noun payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment
• noun a recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing
• noun the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
• verb pay someone with influence in order to receive a favor
• verb pay off (loans or promissory notes)
• verb take vengeance on or get even
• verb yield a profit or result
• verb do or give something to somebody in return
• verb eliminate by paying off (debts)