| / English Dictionary |
DEBT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An obligation to pay or do something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("debt" is a kind of...):
obligation (a legal agreement specifying a payment or action and the penalty for failure to comply)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Money or goods or services owed by one person to another
Classified under:
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
Hypernyms ("debt" is a kind of...):
liabilities (anything that is owed to someone else)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "debt"):
arrears (an unpaid overdue debt)
national debt (the debt of the national government (as distinguished from the debts of individuals and businesses and political subdivisions))
public debt (the total of the nation's debts: debts of local and state and national governments; an indicator of how much public spending is financed by borrowing instead of taxation)
debt ceiling; debt limit (the maximum borrowing power of a governmental entity)
bad debt (a debt that is unlikely to be repaid)
installment debt (debt to be paid by installments)
loan (the temporary provision of money (usually at interest))
principal (the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated)
score (an amount due (as at a restaurant or bar))
Sense 3
Meaning:
The state of owing something (especially money)
Example:
he is badly in debt
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("debt" is a kind of...):
financial obligation; indebtedness; liability (an obligation to pay money to another party)
Context examples:
Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A document containing an itemized list of debts owed for goods or services.
(Invoice, NCI Thesaurus)
His debts to be discharged, and something still to remain!
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
So my knight shall find a venture such as bold knights love, and my debt shall be paid, and my father none the wiser, and one rogue the less in the world.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Your regard; and if I give you mine in return, that debt will be quit.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He is generous to those who have no claim upon him, but he has ruined his tradesmen by refusing to pay his just debts.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A Stock Exchange debt had to be paid.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She wanted more vigorous measures, a more complete reformation, a quicker release from debt, a much higher tone of indifference for everything but justice and equity.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Having paid his debts, therefore, in the most honourable manner, he retreated with his daughter to the town of Lucerne, where he lived unknown and in wretchedness.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
And then, Fanny, the glory of fixing one who has been shot at by so many; of having it in one's power to pay off the debts of one's sex!
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
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