owe
verb (used with object)
to be under obligation to pay or repay.
owed
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past participleof owe.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof owe.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
oweverb (used with object)to be under obligation to pay or repay.
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.
The group also tagged Sheeran, claiming that “concert goers are owed apologies and refunds.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
The WSJ Logistics Report writes that complaints from Chinese workers echo those of former American employees who say they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Soon after her death, they received a council tax bill that included a charge for "premium furnished and no-one resident", doubling the annual amount owed to more than £4,000.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
The government is effectively paying itself, as the money owed was from its own Public Works Loans Board, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Hall thought it was ‘not quite’ but very nearly true to say that ‘engineering owed nothing to science’ until very late in the eighteenth century.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
