owe
verb (used with object)
to be under obligation to pay or repay.
have been owing
-
present perfect progressiveof owe.present perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
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.
It may have been owing to his seeing the Cubs for the second time — an opportunity his previous playoff opponents had had — or fatigue from pitching on three days’ rest.
From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2016
This atmosphere of love and duty which pervaded his home must have been owing in a great measure to the household goodness of Sir Thomas himself.
From How to be Happy Though Married Being a Handbook to Marriage by Edward John Hardy
Whenever he deviated from these principles, it must have been owing to the strong impulses of honor, and the regard he bore to the rights of his fellow-creatures.
From An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America by J. P. (John Patterson) MacLean
Which seems to have been owing to the want of irritability, or the inaptitude to action, of some classes of fibres which compose the retina.
From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin
It was not as one-sided a battle as it would seem it might have been owing to the superiority of numbers in favor of the French—at least at first.
From Air Service Boys Over The Rhine Fighting Above The Clouds by Charles Amory Beach
