owe

transitive-verb
UK: /əʊ/
US: /oʊ/

  1. To need to pay someone for something you have received.

    1. I owe my dad $10, I will pay him back tomorrow. [ ] [ ]
    2. I still owe the bank a lot of money on my mortgage, after many years. [ ] [ ]

  2. To feel grateful to someone because they have helped you.

    1. I owe you a thank you for all that you have done. [ ] [ ]
    2. I owe my success to my parents who supported me all the way of my life. [ ] [ ]

  3. To exist or be caused by someone or something.

    1. Our success we owe to hard work and dedication. [ ] [ ]
    2. Much of Canada's prosperity it does owe to its abundance of natural resources. [ ] [ ]
owe intransitive-verb

  1. To have a moral responsibility to do something.

    1. We owe it to our children to protect the environment. [ ] [ ]
    2. You owe it to yourself to take a break, you've been working so hard and so long. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "owe" in English means: To need to pay someone for something you have received., To feel grateful to someone because they have helped you., To exist or be caused by someone or something..

The phonetic transcription of "owe" is /əʊ/ in British English and /oʊ/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Example usage of "owe": "I owe my dad $10, I will pay him back tomorrow.". More examples on the page.