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
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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:
"I also wasn't expecting the reaction that I got, which was, 'You owe me.' That's all she said, and she walked out."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 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
But those figures might not be updated, and could understate what they will likely owe.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
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
I smiled and said, “That’s all right, Jimbo. You don’t owe me a thing. Besides, I don’t think I’d like that stuff.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The mob invested in pizzerias, but that doesn’t mean pizza owes its popularity to the numbers racket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 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
"Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country."
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
And when they don't come back, the nation owes them something.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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
Just months into the marriage, debt collectors started calling, alleging she owed them money.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 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
The Court justified this insurmountable hurdle on the grounds that considerable deference is owed the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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
That means selling appreciated Massachusetts property before establishing Florida residency could leave you owing Massachusetts taxes on the gain.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 8, 2026
Tibet enjoys enormous global goodwill owing to its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 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
“You’re gonna be owing on that airport for, like, two years.”
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
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.
