owe

owe
owe [ əu ] verb transitive ***
1. ) if you owe someone money, you have to give them a particular amount of money because you have bought something from them or borrowed money from them. Money that you owe is called a debt:
Tell me how much I owe, and I'll give it to you.
owe someone something: Pam still owes me $5.
owe someone something for something: How much do we owe you for the tickets?
owe something to someone: The companies owe as much as $200 billion to foreign lenders.
2. ) to think you should treat someone in a particular way:
owe someone something: She feels she owes her fans another concert.
After the way she's treated him, he doesn't owe her anything.
owe it to someone to do something: They owe it to their children to try to save the marriage.
owe it to yourself to do something: I think you owe it to yourself to have a day off work.
a ) used about feelings you should have about someone:
I think you owe us at least a little respect.
b ) used about things you should say to someone:
owe someone an apology/explanation: Don't you think you owe her an apology for the way you've behaved?
c ) used about things you should give to someone:
I think we owe them a letter.
3. ) to feel grateful to someone because of the way they have helped you:
owe someone something: We really owe you a great deal for all your hard work this year.
4. ) to have something only because someone or something has helped you:
owe something to someone/something: The company owes its success to its excellent training program.
owe much/a lot/a great deal to someone/something: The cathedral clearly owes a great deal to French design.
I owe you SPOKEN
used for thanking someone for something they have done for you
owe your allegiance/loyalty/obedience to
to have an obligation to be loyal to someone or something, or a duty to obey them:
Catholic churches owe their allegiance to the Pope.

Usage of the words and phrases in modern English. 2013.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • owe — W3S2 [əu US ou] v [T] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(money)¦ 2¦(something done/given)¦ 3 owe somebody an explanation/apology 4¦(help to achieve something)¦ 5¦(good effect)¦ 6 owe it to somebody to do something 7 owe it to yourself to do something 8 owe… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • owe — [əʊ ǁ oʊ] verb [transitive] FINANCE to have not yet paid someone money you should pay them, or to have not yet paid back money you borrowed: • She owes taxes for the past three years. owe somebody something (for something) • He owes the company… …   Financial and business terms

  • Owe — ([=o]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Owed} ([=o]d), ({Ought} ([add]t) obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. {Owing} ([=o] [i^]ng).] [OE. owen, awen, aghen, to have, own, have (to do), hence, owe, AS. [=a]gan to have; akin to G. eigen, a., own, Icel. eiga to have, Dan.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Owe — is a surname or given name, a spelling variation of Ove, and may refer to: Baard Owe (born 1936), Norwegian born actor Owe Hellberg (born 1953), Swedish Left Party politician Owe Jonsson (1940 1962), Swedish athlete Owe Wiktorin (born 1940),… …   Wikipedia

  • owe — I verb be beholden, be bound, be due, be in debt, be indebted, be liable, be obligated, be under obligation, contract a debt, debere, have a loan, have an obligation, incur a debt associated concepts: debt owed, debtor creditor laws, legally owed …   Law dictionary

  • owe — ► VERB 1) be required to pay (money or goods) to (someone) in return for something received. 2) be morally obliged to show (gratitude, respect, etc.) or to offer (an explanation) to (someone). 3) (owe something to) have something because of. 4)… …   English terms dictionary

  • owe — owe·nia; owe; …   English syllables

  • owe — [ō] vt. owed, owing [ME owen < OE agan, to own, possess, have, akin to Goth aigan, OHG eigan < IE base * ēik , to have as one s own, be capable (of) > Sans * īśē, (he) possesses] 1. to have an obligation to pay; be indebted to the amount …   English World dictionary

  • owe — (v.) O.E. agan (past tense ahte) to have, own, from P.Gmc. *aiganan to possess (Cf. O.Fris. aga, O.N. eiga, O.H.G. eigan, Goth. aigan to possess, have ), from PIE *aik to be master of, possess (Cf. Skt. ise he owns …   Etymology dictionary

  • owe — [v] have an obligation be beholden, be bound, be contracted, behind, be in arrears, be in debt, be indebted, be into one for, be obligated, be under obligation, feel bound, get on credit, have borrowed, incur, in hock*, lost, on the tab*, ought… …   New thesaurus

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