national debt

See synonyms for national debt on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the financial obligations of a national government resulting from deficit spending.

Origin of national debt

1
An Americanism dating back to 1775–85

Words Nearby national debt

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use national debt in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for national debt

national debt

noun
  1. the total outstanding borrowings of a nation's central government: Also called (esp US): public debt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for national debt

national debt

The debt of the government; the amount of borrowing by the government to meet expenditures exceeding tax revenues.

Notes for national debt

A large national debt can inhibit growth and drive up interest rates.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.