owe S2 W3 / əʊ $ oʊ / 动词 [及物动词]

1 money to need to pay someone for something that they have done for you or sold to you, or to need to give someone back money that they have lent you → borrow , lend

owe somebody money/£10 etc

I owe my brother $50.

owe somebody for something

I still owe you for the taxi.

How much do I owe you (= often used to show that you want to pay for something ) ?

owe something to somebody

the money owed to credit card companies

2 something done/given to feel that you should do something for someone or give someone something, because they have done something for you or given something to you :

He asked for help from a colleague who owed him a favour .

owe somebody a drink/letter etc

I owe Shaun a letter; I must write soon.

Thanks a lot for being so understanding about all this – I owe you one (= used to thank someone who has helped you, and to say that you are willing to help them in the future ) !

owe somebody (= be in a position in which someone has helped you, so that you should help them )

Let’s go and see Joe – he owes me!

3 owe somebody an explanation/apology to feel that you should give someone an explanation of why you did something, or say you are sorry :

You owe him an apology.

4 help to achieve something

a) to have something or achieve something because of what someone else has done

owe something to somebody

He probably owes his life to her prompt action.

b) to know that someone’s help has been important to you in achieving something

owe somebody a lot/owe somebody a great deal

‘I owe my parents a lot,’ he admitted.

He owes a great deal to his publishers.

owe it all to somebody/owe everything to somebody

I owe it all to you.

owe somebody a debt (of gratitude)

the debt that we owe to our teachers

5 good effect to be successful because of the good effect or influence of something or someone

owe to

Their success owes more to good luck than to careful management.

Pearson’s work owed much to the research of his friend, Hugh Kingsmill.

6 owe it to somebody to do something to feel you should do something for someone, because they have helped you or given you support :

You owe it to your supporters not to give up now.

7 owe it to yourself to do something to feel you should try to achieve something because it is what you deserve :

You owe it to yourself to take some time off.

8 owe loyalty/allegiance etc to somebody to have a duty to obey someone :

provinces owing allegiance to the Emperor

9 think that the world owes you a living to be unwilling to work in order to get things, and expect them to be provided for you – used to show disapproval

THESAURUS

owe to need to pay someone for something they have sold to you or because they have lent you money – used especially when talking about particular amounts of money : You owe me $50. | The football club still owes £2.3 million.

be in debt to owe money, especially to several different companies – used when talking about a person’s financial situation : She hates being in debt. | We started getting deeper and deeper into debt.

be overdrawn to owe an amount of money to your bank because you have taken more money out of an account than you have put in : He received a letter saying he was overdrawn. | The bank charged me even though I was only a few pence overdrawn.

have an overdraft to be overdrawn, with the agreement of your bank : When I finished college I had a big overdraft.

be in the red informal to have spent more money than you have : The firm is £190,000,000 in the red.