pay someone a compliment
give someone a compliment

Let me pay a compliment to the president, if I may.

Still, at the end of the day, they did pay me a real compliment.

She had not paid him a compliment for a long time now.

But while I was away, he paid me a pretty high compliment.

I know that one, and you couldn't have paid me a greater compliment.

"Why did you wait till today to pay me such a compliment?"

He wondered how long it had been since someone paid her a compliment.

On the other hand, no vampire should pay her such a compliment, and not only because it wasn't true.

"You will not have long, my friend, to pay compliments of any kind," he said.

"I know that you have the art of paying compliments."