pay it forward

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

respond to an act of kindness received by performing a kind act for a third party rather than repaying the original benefactor; create a chain of generosity in which help flows forward to new recipients rather than cycling back to the giver; the concept gained wide cultural traction through Catherine Ryan Hyde's 2000 novel and the subsequent film, though the underlying idea of cascading benevolence appears in Benjamin Franklin's correspondence and earlier philosophical writing