Crossword Genius

Wages get stopped as the final part of a joke (3-3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pay-off

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'part of a joke' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'wages get stopped as the final' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'wages' could be 'pay' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'pay' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'off' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pay-off that I've seen before include "Result" , "Return on an investment" , "Final settlement - backhander" , "Deserved reward" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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