owe
Americanverb (used with object)
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owes,
present (3rd person singular)
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owed,
past participle, past
-
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.
-
to be indebted (to) as the cause or source of.
to owe one's fame to good fortune.
-
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
-
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
-
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:
“Moving that debt to a 0% intro APR card or paying it down aggressively is the surest way to cut what you owe in interest.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Estimates say he could owe as much as $12.5bn.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
My friend Julie Awad, who is a fellow self-proclaimed extrovert, says part of the reason she typically offers to put her card down during group events is because she doesn’t like to owe people money.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
“Baseball was my life, and I owe it everything. But there’s something about tennis. When I was seven, I’d watch it on TV and enjoy every minute of it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
“Jonesy, do you know how much I owe you? Heck, you taught me how to ride a bike! And pretty much how to swim. Or at least swim better.”
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Churches and community organizations provided food and shelter for thousands of people in transit, while the hospital in Yuma, the county seat, was completely overwhelmed, and the federal government still owes it millions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
He also owes me seven years of back child support.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Today, the disgraced Theranos founder is serving a federal prison sentence for defrauding investors and owes hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
It's understood that the money is coming from the King's private income - and will cover what Andrew owes his former landlords, the Crown Estate, on leaving Royal Lodge.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Ask and Embla were the father and the mother of all of us: every human being owes its life to its parents and their parents and their parents before them.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
However, Newton’s property management company claimed in court documents that Jackson ceased paying rent on the dwelling and owed 11 months in back rent by the time the case was heard in court.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Maher’s punch-left, pat-right comedy has been stale for years, but he’s still insisting he’s owed a platform.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
The finance company estimated they would pay off what they owed in less than two months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
In August this year, another High Court judge worked out the amount Bern was due and ruled she was owed £127,500 for the 850 days of care she provided.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Sam owed it to me to come home and help Mother run the tavern for a couple of years while I started to make my way in the world.
From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Eventually, they were forced to shutter their business owing more than $34,000 on the borrowed $11,850.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Of the ship itself there is now nothing to see, owing to underwater exposure.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
She qualified for that year's World Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships in what was an unusually condensed season owing to the backlog from the pandemic.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Financials are seen growing by around 5%, owing to tougher comparisons and pressure from higher bond yields, she says.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
“Owe you? Since when am I owing you anything?”
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
