owe

owe
[[t]o͟ʊ[/t]]
♦♦♦
owes, owing, owed
1) VERB If you owe money to someone, they have lent it to you and you have not yet paid it back. You can also say that the money is owing.

[V n to n] The company owes money to more than 60 banks...

[V n n] Blake already owed him nearly ₤50...

[V n] I'm broke, Livy, and I owe a couple of million dollars...

He could take what was owing for the rent.

2) VERB: no passive If someone or something owes a particular quality or their success to a person or thing, they only have it because of that person or thing.

[V n to n] I always suspected she owed her first job to her friendship with Roger...

[V n to n] He owed his survival to his strength as a swimmer...

[V n to n] The fruit owes its extraordinary aroma to a mixture of three main chemicals...

[V n to n] The city essentially owes its fame and beauty to the Moors who transformed it into the Muslim capital of Spain...

[V n n] I owe him my life.

3) VERB If you say that you owe a great deal to someone or something, you mean that they have helped you or influenced you a lot, and you feel very grateful to them.

[V amount to n] As a professional composer I owe much to Radio 3...

[V n amount] He's been fantastic. I owe him a lot.

4) VERB If you say that something owes a great deal to a person or thing, you mean that it exists, is successful, or has its particular form mainly because of them.

[V amount to n] The island's present economy owes a good deal to whisky distilling...

[V amount to n] Mrs Allen's style of cooking owes much to her mother-in-law.

5) VERB If you say that you owe someone gratitude, respect, or loyalty, you mean that they deserve it from you. [FORMAL]

[V n n] Perhaps we owe these people more respect...

[V n n] I owe you an apology. You must have found my attitude very annoying...

[V n to n] I owe a big debt of gratitude to her.

6) VERB: no passive If you say that you owe it to someone to do something, you mean that you should do that thing because they deserve it.

[V it to n to-inf] I can't go. I owe it to him to stay...

[V it to pron-refl to-inf] You owe it to yourself to get some professional help...

[V it to n] Of course she would have to send a letter; she owed it to the family.

7) PHR-PREP: PREP n You use owing to when you are introducing the reason for something.

He was out of work owing to a physical injury...

Owing to staff shortages, there was no restaurant car on the train.

Syn:
due to
8) the world owes someone a living → see world

English dictionary. 2008.

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Synonyms:
, / , , / ,


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 — [ 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 …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern 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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