duty
Americannoun
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something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.
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the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right; moral or legal obligation.
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an action or task required by a person's position or occupation; function.
the duties of a clergyman.
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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
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an act or expression of respect.
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a task or chore that a person is expected to perform.
It's your duty to do the dishes.
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Military.
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an assigned task, occupation, or place of service.
He was on radar duty for two years.
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the military service required of a citizen by a country.
After graduation, he began his duty.
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Commerce. a specific or ad valorem tax imposed by law on the import or export of goods.
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a payment, service, etc., imposed and enforceable by law or custom.
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Chiefly British. tax.
income duty.
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Machinery.
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the amount of work done by an engine per unit amount of fuel consumed.
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the measure of effectiveness of any machine.
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Agriculture. the amount of water necessary to provide for the crop in a given area.
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Baby Talk. bowel movement.
idioms
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on duty, at one's post or work; occupied; engaged.
He was suspended from the force for being drunk while on duty.
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do duty, to serve the same function; substitute for.
bookcases that do duty as room dividers.
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off duty, not at one's post or work; at liberty.
They spent their days off duty in hiking and fishing.
noun
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a task or action that a person is bound to perform for moral or legal reasons
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respect or obedience due to a superior, older persons, etc
filial duty
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the force that binds one morally or legally to one's obligations
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a government tax, esp on imports
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the quantity or intensity of work for which a machine is designed
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a measure of the efficiency of a machine
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the quantity of water necessary to irrigate an area of land to grow a particular crop
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a job or service allocated
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( as modifier )
duty rota
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to act as a substitute for
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not at work
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at work
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing duty
Veterans Day Vocabulary
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The Constitution of the United States
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An Ember in the Ashes
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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.
DUTY, history, and responsibility are what keep Fiat, Italy’s biggest private-sector employer, based at home.
From Economist • Nov. 3, 2011
"DUTY TO WARN" U.S. officials said the United States has a "duty to warn" foreign governments rapidly if American agencies developed intelligence about imminent threats of militant attacks.
From Reuters • May 23, 2011
The West Point creed, "DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY," is constantly recited but hard to find exercised in the fog of war.
From Time Magazine Archive
On his last day at the Point, standing before a giant West Point emblem and its motto, DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY, the President delivered the commencement address to the 469 graduates of the class of '55.
From Time Magazine Archive
Still, it was his DUTY, and duty was in the Chichester motto.
From Peg O' My Heart by Manners, J. Hartley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
