to put paid to old accounts

Question

The resulting nearly pure coniine would have a deliciously mousy odor, and it would take less than half a drop of the oily stuff to put paid to old accounts.

How does the past perfect “paid” be placed after “put”?
And what’s the meaning of “to put paid to old accounts”?

Avangi · Accepted Answer

What's this about?
Is he saying that that a drop of this stuff would be worth enough money to pay off all his old accounts?
It seems a little strange to me.
Maybe, "to stamp 'paid' on old accounts"

"to put [the] X to something" is an idiom, but I can't quite get my head around it here.

That puts the lie to his alibi.

Khoff · Answer

"To put paid to old accounts" suggests to me that you're stamping the word "PAID" on an old bill, and then you can forget about it.  I'm assuming it's a metaphor for settling old scores, paying old debts or revenging past wrongs.  In that context, my guess is that one drop of "pure coniine" would be enough to kill someone.

Avangi · Answer

khoffone drop of "pure coniine" would be enough to kill someone.

Great idea! What the heck is it?
You must be right about the metaphor!

A.

to put paid to old accounts

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