debt of honour

British

noun

a debt that is morally but not legally binding, such as one contracted in gambling

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Almost 4 million women born in the 1950s, whose retirement age was increased from 60 to 66, have been weighing their voting intentions since Labour announced a £58bn compensation plan to pay back the “historic debt of honour”.

From The Guardian

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the pledge would settle a "debt of honour" to women born in the 1950s.

From BBC

"We have a historical debt of honour to them and when we go into government we are going to fulfil that debt," he said.

From BBC

Two British MPs who went on a fact-finding mission to north-east Syria last month, including a visit to a refugee camp, said the UK had a “debt of honour” to help those who fought Isis on the ground, and said the situation in the prisons and camps was critical.

From The Guardian

"It is a particularly important moment for Romania's justice system that is fulfilling a debt of honour to history," Chief Prosecutor Augustin Lazar told reporters.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023