owe
Americanverb (used with object)
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owes,
present (3rd person singular)
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owed,
past participle, past
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owing
present participle
-
to be under obligation to pay or repay.
to owe money to the bank; to owe the bank interest on a mortgage.
-
to be in debt to.
He says he doesn't owe anybody.
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to be indebted (to) as the cause or source of.
to owe one's fame to good fortune.
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to have or bear (a feeling or attitude) toward someone or something.
to owe gratitude to one's rescuers.
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Obsolete. to possess; own.
verb (used without object)
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owes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
owed,
past participle, past
-
owing
present participle
verb
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to be under an obligation to pay (someone) to the amount of
-
(intr) to be in debt
he still owes for his house
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(often foll by to) to have as a result (of)
he owes his success to chance
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to feel the need or obligation to do, give, etc
to owe somebody thanks
to owe it to oneself to rest
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to hold or maintain in the mind or heart (esp in the phrase owe a grudge )
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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owesimple
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owessimple
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have owedperfect
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has owedperfect
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am owingprogressive
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are owingprogressive
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is owingprogressive
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have been owingperfect progressive
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has been owingperfect progressive
Past
-
owedsimple
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had owedperfect
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was owingprogressive
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were owingprogressive
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had been owingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of owe
before 900; Middle English owen to possess, be under obligation, have to pay; Old English āgan to possess; cognate with Old High German eigan, Old Norse eiga. See own, ought 1
Explanation
People owe things when they're in debt to someone. A friend can owe you a favor, and your employer owes you a paycheck. When you talk about owing, it has to do with what someone deserves from someone else. If you borrow library books, you owe them to the library after a few weeks. When you take out a loan, you owe that money to the bank. You can also owe favors and more abstract things. If a friend did something bad to you, but they've been your friend a long time, you probably owe them a second chance.
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.
See Examples For:
This rate could be as low as 0% or as high as 23.8%, but many taxpayers will owe 15%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
He has estimated he will owe around £50,000 in student loans by the time he finishes his course and qualifies as a teacher.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
"Preserving Homer's legacy is a duty we owe to humanity. He is one of the founding fathers of literature," Bornova Mayor Omer Eski told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Homeowners in some parts of California may also owe additional Mello-Roos taxes.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
I owe it to Hannie to get us to safety.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
“I know how it feels to waive rent someone genuinely owes you,” he adds.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Reichert explained that he feels the foundation owes partners, publishers and the gaming community an inaugural cup event "delivered under the right conditions and at the level this idea deserves".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
His acquisition of the Lakers had marked the end of an era in the NBA, whose modern popularity owes much to the franchise's 1980s heyday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
In exchange, the government owes that person treatment equal to that of others born on its soil.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
He feels a little better, but the realization of how much he owes Theo plagues him.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
FedEx has already received about $800 million in refunds, but has booked $749 million as liabilities owed back to customers whose tariff payments it can trace.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
Hearn did confirm Matchroom held a meeting with Sela regarding money owed to the organisation for previously agreed contracts.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Cohen said he believed he was owed an explanation.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
According to the probate filings, he continued to pursue fees he was owed through the trust, and received money in April.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
But Bobby’s untenanted look owed itself not to vapidity but to a certain lack of interest in the world around him.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
But out of all the co-creators and producers’ names listed in the drama’s credits, it’s Lindelof’s that heightens our expectations, owing to his outstanding success with his 2019 reinterpretation of “Watchmen.”
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Investors have enjoyed a much-needed rally since Friday, following a month-long tech rout that slashed billions of dollars off valuations owing to concerns about the vast sums companies had pumped into artificial intelligence.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Their work activities are shifting, owing to the introduction and adoption of AI technologies.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
But it has been "magnified" in recent years owing to India's demographic surge - or a growing size of the population entering the workforce - and improved education outcomes.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
I dreamed instead about my grandfather as a boy, about his first night here, a stranger in a strange land, under a strange roof, owing his life to people who spoke a strange tongue.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
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.
