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
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to be under obligation to pay or repay.
to owe money to the bank; to owe the bank interest on a mortgage.
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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
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owing
present participle
verb
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to be under an obligation to pay (someone) to the amount of
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(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
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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:
That’s because many lower-income households owe little or no federal income tax, so they can’t profit from the tax breaks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
This can happen when a buyer trades in a car with negative equity, because it’s likely that what they still owe gets rolled into the new loan.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Figures from the 2025-26 financial year suggest that the amount borrowers owe when they first become eligible to repay has, on average, fallen compared to the year before.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Department of Finance also mailed warning notices to a narrower group of about 17,000 homeowners that it thinks might owe the tax.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
“If the Wicked One betrays her, you owe us both two milkshakes and an order of fries,” Thorn said.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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
The utility company owes roughly £20bn and has been working with creditors and government officials to find a way forward.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Japan owes more — relative to the size of its economy — than any rich country on the planet.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
This is a large part of Annabelle Agnelli—the weight of what she owes everyone.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
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
The program’s trust fund is currently on track to run out of money in 2032, at which point recipients would receive about 78% of the benefits they’re owed, according to the latest trustees report.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
“These sailors are owed a sense of when they will go home,” Gallego, an Iraq war veteran, said this week on X.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
China remains Zambia's largest bilateral creditor, with about US$4.5 billion owed to Chinese lenders, equivalent to roughly 15 percent of total public and publicly guaranteed debt, according to the IMF.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Sheed had saved him from toppling off his bike when the chase first started; he kind of owed him.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Most medical students finish school owing more than $200,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
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
As a foreign entity, however, Apollo is unable to take full ownership of the airline outright owing to UK and European rules requiring firms to be majority owned and controlled by regional nationals.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 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’ll make sure there will be nothing owing on the package.”
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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.
