owe


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owe

 (ō)
v. owed, ow·ing, owes
v.tr.
1. To be indebted to the amount of: He owes me five dollars.
2. To have a moral or legal obligation to render or offer: I owe them an apology.
3. To be in debt to: We owe the plumber for services rendered.
4. To be indebted or obliged for: owed their riches to oil; owes her good health to diet and exercise.
5. To bear (a certain feeling) toward a person or persons: You seem to owe your neighbors a grudge.
6. Archaic To have as a possession; own.
v.intr.
To be in debt: She still owes for the car.

[Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, to possess; see aik- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

owe

(əʊ)
vb (mainly tr)
1. to be under an obligation to pay (someone) to the amount of
2. (intr) to be in debt: he still owes for his house.
3. (often foll by to) to have as a result (of): he owes his success to chance.
4. to feel the need or obligation to do, give, etc: to owe somebody thanks; to owe it to oneself to rest.
5. to hold or maintain in the mind or heart (esp in the phrase owe a grudge)
[Old English āgan to have (C12: to have to); related to Old Saxon ēgan, Old High German eigan]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

owe

(oʊ)

v. owed, ow•ing. v.t.
1. to be under obligation to pay or repay, or to render: I owe him a dollar. She owes me an apology.
2. to be in debt to.
3. to be indebted or beholden for: to owe one's fame to good fortune.
4. to have or bear (a feeling or attitude) toward someone or something.
5. Obs. to possess; own.
v.i.
6. to be in debt.
[before 900; Middle English owen to possess, be under obligation, have to pay, Old English āgan to possess, c. Old Frisian āga, Old High German eigan, Old Norse eiga. compare own, ought]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

owe


Past participle: owed
Gerund: owing

Imperative
owe
owe
Present
I owe
you owe
he/she/it owes
we owe
you owe
they owe
Preterite
I owed
you owed
he/she/it owed
we owed
you owed
they owed
Present Continuous
I am owing
you are owing
he/she/it is owing
we are owing
you are owing
they are owing
Present Perfect
I have owed
you have owed
he/she/it has owed
we have owed
you have owed
they have owed
Past Continuous
I was owing
you were owing
he/she/it was owing
we were owing
you were owing
they were owing
Past Perfect
I had owed
you had owed
he/she/it had owed
we had owed
you had owed
they had owed
Future
I will owe
you will owe
he/she/it will owe
we will owe
you will owe
they will owe
Future Perfect
I will have owed
you will have owed
he/she/it will have owed
we will have owed
you will have owed
they will have owed
Future Continuous
I will be owing
you will be owing
he/she/it will be owing
we will be owing
you will be owing
they will be owing
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been owing
you have been owing
he/she/it has been owing
we have been owing
you have been owing
they have been owing
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been owing
you will have been owing
he/she/it will have been owing
we will have been owing
you will have been owing
they will have been owing
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been owing
you had been owing
he/she/it had been owing
we had been owing
you had been owing
they had been owing
Conditional
I would owe
you would owe
he/she/it would owe
we would owe
you would owe
they would owe
Past Conditional
I would have owed
you would have owed
he/she/it would have owed
we would have owed
you would have owed
they would have owed
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.owe - be obliged to pay or repay
chalk up, run up - accumulate as a debt; "he chalked up $100 in the course of the evening"
2.owe - be indebted to, in an abstract or intellectual sense; "This new theory owes much to Einstein's Relativity Theory"
build on, build upon, repose on, rest on - be based on; of theories and claims, for example; "What's this new evidence based on?"
3.owe - be in debt; "She owes me $200"; "I still owe for the car"; "The thesis owes much to his adviser"
mortgage - put up as security or collateral
be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

owe

verb be in debt (to), be in arrears (to), be overdrawn (by), be beholden to, be under an obligation to, be obligated or indebted (to) He owes me over £100.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
يُدِينُيَكونُ مَدينا
dlužit
skylde
olla velkaa
dugovati
tartozik
skulda
借りがある
빚이 있다
debere
būti skolingamneišmokėtas
būt parādā
dlhovať
dolgovati
vara skyldig
เป็นหนี้
nợ

owe

[əʊ]
A. VT (gen) → deber
to owe sb £2deber dos libras a algn
I'll owe it to youte lo quedo a deber
to owe sb for a mealdeber a algn una comida
he claims he is still owed for the workasegura que todavía se le debe dinero por el trabajo
he owes his life to a lucky chancedebe su vida a una casualidad
he owes his talent to his motherle debe su talento a su madre
to what do I owe the honour of your visit?¿a qué debo el honor de su visita?
you owe it to yourself to comevenir es un deber que tienes contigo mismo
I owe it to her to confessmi deber con ella me obliga a confesarlo
I think I owe you an explanationcreo que es necesaria una explicación
see also allegiance
B. VItener deudas
he owed for three coffeesdebía tres cafés
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

owe

[ˈəʊ] vt
[+ money] → devoir
to owe sb sth → devoir qch à qn
I owe you 50 euros → Je te dois cinquante euros.
You owe me five pounds → Tu me dois cinq livres.
to owe sth to sb → devoir qch à qn
(moral obligation) [+ apology, thanks, explanation] → devoir
to owe sb sth → devoir qch à qn
I owe him my life → Je lui dois la vie.
I owe you an apology → Je vous dois des excuses.
We owe you our thanks, Dr Marlowe → Nous vous devons des remerciements Dr Marlowe.
Neither he nor Melanie owe me any explanation → Ni lui, ni Melanie ne me doivent d'explication.
Alfred owed everything to him → Alfred lui devait tout.
to owe it to sb
Of course she would have to send a letter; she owed it to the family → Bien sûr, il faudrait qu'elle envoie une lettre: elle le devait à la famille.
to owe it to sb to do sth → devoir à qn de faire qch
I can't go. I owe it to him to stay and help → Je ne peux pas partir. Je lui dois de rester et d'aider.
to owe it to o.s. to do sth → se devoir de faire qchowing to prepen raison de
owing to bad weather → en raison du mauvais temps
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

owe

vt
moneyschulden, schuldig sein (sb sth, sth to sb jdm etw); can I owe you the rest?kann ich dir den Rest schuldig bleiben?; I owe him a mealich bin ihm noch ein Essen schuldig, ich schulde ihm noch ein Essen; how much do I owe you? (in shop etc) → was bin ich schuldig?
reverence, obedience, loyaltyschulden, schuldig sein (to sb jdm); allegianceschulden (to sb jdm)
(= be under an obligation for)verdanken (sth to sb jdm etw); I owe my life to himich verdanke ihm mein Leben; to what do I owe the honour (Brit) or honor (US) of your visit? (iro)und was verschafft mir die Ehre Ihres Besuches?; we owe it to them that we are alive todaywir haben es ihnen zu verdanken, dass wir heute noch leben; you owe it to yourself to keep fitdu bist es dir schuldig, fit zu bleiben; we owe nothing to him, we owe him nothingwir sind ihm (gar) nichts schuldig; I think you owe me an explanationich glaube, du bist mir eine Erklärung schuldig
vi to owe somebody for somethingjdm Geld für etw schulden; can I owe you for the rest?kann ich Ihnen den Rest schuldig bleiben?; I still owe him for the mealich muss ihm das Essen noch bezahlen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

owe

[əʊ] vt (gen) to owe sb sth, to owe sth to sbdovere qc a qn
to what do I owe the honour of your visit? (iro) → a che devo l'onore della visita?
you owe it to yourself to come → è per te stesso che devi venire
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

owe

(əu) verb
to be in debt to. I owe (him) $10.
ˈowing adjective
still to be paid. There is some money still owing (to us).
owing to
because of. Owing to the rain, the football has been cancelled.

owing to is used to mean `because of': The shop is closed owing to (not due to) the manager's illness .
due to is used to mean `caused by': The accident was believed to be due to his negligence .
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

owe

يُدِينُ dlužit skylde schulden χρωστώ deber olla velkaa devoir dugovati dovere 借りがある 빚이 있다 schuldig zijn skylde być winnym dever быть должником vara skyldig เป็นหนี้ borcu olmak nợ
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
And are enemies also to receive what we owe to them?
To be sure, he said, they are to receive what we owe them, and an enemy, as I take it, owes to an enemy that which is due or proper to him-- that is to say, evil.
I mean no more than that I partly owe to you my existence during great part of the time which I have employed in composing it: another matter which it may be necessary to remind you of; since there are certain actions of which you are apt to be extremely forgetful; but of these I hope I shall always have a better memory than yourself.
The farmer followed him with his eyes, and when he saw that he had cleared the wood and was no longer in sight, he turned to his boy Andres, and said, "Come here, my son, I want to pay you what I owe you, as that undoer of wrongs has commanded me."
"Stay a moment, your excellency," said Peppino, rising; "you still owe me something."
I cannot owe you more, for I owe you everything already."
"You owe your thanks more to another man than to me," I said, "and here he is; meet one of Barsoom's greatest soldiers and statesmen, Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark."
above all, For the resurrection of deep-buried faith In Truth -- in Virtue -- in Humanity -- Of all who, on Despair's unhallowed bed Lying down to die, have suddenly arisen At thy soft-murmured words, "Let there be light!" At the soft-murmured words that were fulfilled In the seraphic glancing of thine eyes -- Of all who owe thee most -- whose gratitude Nearest resembles worship -- oh, remember The truest -- the most fervently devoted, And think that these weak lines are written by him -- By him who, as he pens them, thrills to think His spirit is communing with an angel's.
As soon as they were well away, the Fox departed without taking any notice of the Woodcutter: whereon he called to him and reproached him, saying, "You ungrateful fellow, you owe your life to me, and yet you leave me without a word of thanks." The Fox replied, "Indeed, I should have thanked you fervently if your deeds had been as good as your words, and if your hands had not been traitors to your speech."
To these great examples I wish to add a lesser one; still it bears some resemblance to them, and I wish it to suffice me for all of a like kind: it is Hiero the Syracusan.[*] This man rose from a private station to be Prince of Syracuse, nor did he, either, owe anything to fortune but opportunity; for the Syracusans, being oppressed, chose him for their captain, afterwards he was rewarded by being made their prince.
"Meringe owes Somo four heads, three from the dysentery, an' another wan from a tree fallin' on him the last fortnight.
Evidence derived from an inclined stream of lava at the eastern base of the Portillo, might be adduced to show, that it owes part of its great height to elevations of a still later date.