Definition

1. Verb:
   • To be under an obligation to pay or repay money to someone: To have a debt, typically a financial one, that needs to be settled.
   • To be under a moral or social obligation to someone for a service, favor, or kindness: To feel indebted or grateful to someone for something non-material.
   • To have something (a quality, achievement, or characteristic) as a result of the influence or work of someone or something else: To attribute the origin or existence of something to a particular source.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (Financial Debt):
  • I still owe the bank a large sum of money.
  • How much do I owe you for the tickets?
• Verb (Moral/Social Debt):
  • I owe you an apology for my behavior yesterday.
  • We owe our teachers a great deal of gratitude.
• Verb (Attribution of Origin):
  • The film owes a lot to the director's unique vision.
  • Modern medicine owes much to the discoveries of the 19th century.

Advanced Usage

• "owe it to oneself (to do something)": To have a duty or responsibility to oneself to do something for one's own benefit.
  • You owe it to yourself to take a vacation and relax.
• "owe a debt of gratitude to someone": To be very grateful to someone.
  • The community owes a debt of gratitude to the volunteers.

Variants and Related Words

• Owing (adjective): Still to be paid; due.
  • There is a large amount of money still owing.
• Owed (adjective): That which is due or deserved.
  • He finally received the owed recognition for his work.

Synonyms

• Be in debt to: To have a financial obligation.
• Be indebted to: To feel grateful or obliged (for a favor or kindness).
• Be beholden to: To owe thanks or have a duty to someone (often implies a sense of obligation).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Owe to: To have something because of someone or something else. (This is the standard construction for attribution, not a separable phrasal verb).
  • She owes her success to hard work and perseverance.

Related Idioms

• To owe someone one: To feel that you must do a favor for someone because they have helped you. (Informal)
  • Thanks for helping me move. I owe you one!
• To owe a favor: To be in a situation where you must return a kind act.
  • After he covered my shift, I knew I owed him a favor.

Verb

1. be in debt
   • She owes me $200
   • I still owe for the car
   • The thesis owes much to his adviser
2. be indebted to, in an abstract or intellectual sense
   • This new theory owes much to Einstein's Relativity Theory
3. be obliged to pay or repay