duty

American  

[doo-tee, dyoo-] / ˈdu ti, ˈdju- /

noun

• duties
  plural

1. something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.

2. the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right; moral or legal obligation.

3. an action or task required by a person's position or occupation; function.

   the duties of a clergyman.

   Synonyms:

   role, place, concern

4. the respectful and obedient conduct due a parent, superior, elder, etc.

   Synonyms:

   impost, assessment, task, job, chore, assignment, devoir, charge, burden, obligation, responsibility, commitment, tithe, toll, tariff, levy

5. an act or expression of respect.

6. a task or chore that a person is expected to perform.

   It's your duty to do the dishes.

7. Military.

   1. an assigned task, occupation, or place of service.

      He was on radar duty for two years.

   2. the military service required of a citizen by a country.

      After graduation, he began his duty.

8. Commerce. a specific or ad valorem tax imposed by law on the import or export of goods.

9. a payment, service, etc., imposed and enforceable by law or custom.

10. Chiefly British. tax.

    income duty.

11. Machinery.

    1. the amount of work done by an engine per unit amount of fuel consumed.

    2. the measure of effectiveness of any machine.

12. Agriculture. the amount of water necessary to provide for the crop in a given area.

13. Baby Talk. bowel movement.

---

idioms

1. on duty, at one's post or work; occupied; engaged.

   He was suspended from the force for being drunk while on duty.

2. do duty, to serve the same function; substitute for.

   bookcases that do duty as room dividers.

3. off duty, not at one's post or work; at liberty.

   They spent their days off duty in hiking and fishing.

duty British  

/ ˈdjuːtɪ /

noun

1. a task or action that a person is bound to perform for moral or legal reasons

2. respect or obedience due to a superior, older persons, etc

   filial duty

3. the force that binds one morally or legally to one's obligations

4. a government tax, esp on imports

5. 1. the quantity or intensity of work for which a machine is designed

   2. a measure of the efficiency of a machine

6. the quantity of water necessary to irrigate an area of land to grow a particular crop

7. 1. a job or service allocated

   2. ( as modifier )

      duty rota

8. to act as a substitute for

9. not at work

10. at work

---

duty Cultural  

1. A tax charged by a government, especially on an import.

---

duty More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing duty

• above and beyond (the call of duty)
• active duty
• do one's duty
• double duty
• off duty
• on duty

---

Synonym Usage

Duty, obligation refer to what one feels bound to do. Duty is what one performs, or avoids doing, in fulfillment of the permanent dictates of conscience, piety, right, or law: duty to one's country; one's duty to tell the truth, to raise children properly. An obligation is what one is bound to do to fulfill the dictates of usage, custom, or propriety, and to carry out a particular, specific, and often personal promise or agreement: financial obligations.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• duties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of duty

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English du(e)te, from Anglo-French duete; see due, -ty ²

Explanation

When you've done your duty, you've done what you're supposed to and met your responsibilities. Your sense of duty as a citizen might compel you to vote; it might also keep you from voting twice. A duty is an obligation, and we get new duties with new positions in life, like taking a job, or becoming a parent. You didn't realize one of your duties as club president would be cleaning up after meetings. A police officer or cab driver can be on-duty or off-duty. As an off-duty police officer, you might still feel it's your duty to stop a robbery. Duty also means "tax," which is why people like shopping duty-free at the airport.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

duty duties

These include failing to carry out "timely and thorough observations" of patients, then falsifying records "in the safe knowledge that staff on duty would not report or escalate the deception".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

He says one member of staff on duty on the night of the incident has been sacked while four others are now under investigation by the Trust.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

“We continue to engage in careful communication with market participants with a high sense of urgency, and our primary duty is to maintain appropriate debt management policies while sustaining this dialogue,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

The governor said Liles was the first CHP officer killed in the line of duty since 2020.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

Army surgeon, was on duty at the Armory Square Hospital in Washington when he heard that President Lincoln and General Grant would be at the performance that night.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

Job duties depend on who you ask, but many say the remit includes building AI systems to automate marketing tasks and improving how companies show up in chatbot replies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

It is unclear what were the suspect's specific duties at the hospitals.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

"Tomorrow morning I will hand over my duties to the parliament speaker."

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

They’ve made clear to city officials they don’t appreciate attempts to saddle them with additional duties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

As Allied bombing continued on German cities, the duties of the Hitler Youth grew riskier, especially as the older Hitler Youth were called to military service.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Related Words

• burden
• business
• charge
• chore
• commission
• commitment
• contract
• function
• job
• need
• obligation
• office
• role
• service
• task
• work