Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means bribe, but when you pay a bribe, you are going to pay something or to cover something, like a meal, or something like that.

This verb uses the kun'yomi reading of the kanji. You haven't learned that yet, so here's mnemonic to help you:

Your employee always works through dinner time, so to pay for their extra work and to cover their meal, you mark a nacho (まかな) with their name. That marked nacho will be their dinner. So generous of you to cover their dinner with a free nacho! A pay increase would be better though.