debt
4 ENTRIES FOUND:
plural
debts
plural
debts
Britannica Dictionary definition of DEBT
1
[count]
:
an amount of money that you owe to a person, bank, company, etc.
—
see also national debt
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He is trying to pay off gambling debts.
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The company has run up huge debts.
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Their debts are piling up.
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She's finally paid off her mortgage debt. [=the money that she owed the bank to pay for her house]
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the nation's growing foreign debt [=the amount of money that a country owes other countries]
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Most of his debts are consumer debts. [=most of his debts are from buying things at stores]
2
[noncount]
:
the state of owing money to someone or something
-
He is drowning in a sea of debt. [=he owes a very large amount of money]
-
a mountain of debt
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He's been working three jobs in an attempt to get out of debt.
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The company was in debt but is now turning a profit.
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I am deep/heavily in debt.
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I'm thousands of dollars in debt.
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She went into debt to pay for college.
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I'm worried that we will fall into debt.
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banks with millions of dollars of bad debt [=banks that have loaned millions of dollars that will not be repaid]
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a debt-ridden country [=a country with more debt than it can pay]
3
[count]
:
the fact that you have been influenced or helped by someone or something
— usually singular
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The photographer has acknowledged a/his debt to Andy Warhol. [=the photographer has said that his work was influenced by the photographs made by Andy Warhol]
debt to society
— used in phrases like pay your debt to society to refer to being punished for committing a crime
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after 10 years in prison, he has paid his debt to society and is a free man.
in someone's debt
◊ If you are in someone's debt, you are very thankful for something that someone has done for you.
-
I am in your debt for your help and support.
owe a debt of gratitude/thanks to
:
to have a good reason to be very grateful to (someone)
-
The whole town owes a debt of gratitude to the people who organized the parade.
