in the pay of

in the pay of

1. (derogatory) Employed by (someone), often secretly.

• “in the pay of”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “in the pay of”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “in the pay of somebody” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “in the pay of someone” (US) / “in the pay of someone” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.