debt
[noun]
Synonyms:
- debit, commitment, liability, obligation
- in debt: owing, in arrears, in the red (informal), liable

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Contrasted words: asset, credit, compensation, refund, reimbursement, remuneration
Related Words: default, deficit, delinquency, nonpayment, outstandings, debit, demurrage

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English Thesaurus: loan, mortgage, interest, overdraft, debt, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

debt S3 W2 /det/ noun
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: dette, from Latin debitum, from debere 'to owe']

1. [countable] a sum of money that a person or organization owes
debt of
She had debts of over £100,000.
He had enough money to pay off his outstanding debts.
students who run up huge debts

2. [uncountable] when you owe money to someone Antonym : credit
in debt (to somebody)
Nearly half the students said they were in debt.
The band will be in debt to the record company for years.
£200/$1,000 etc in debt
A rash business decision left him $600 in debt.
get/run/fall etc into debt
The club sank deeper into debt.
be heavily/deeply in debt (=owe a lot of money)

3. [countable usually singular] the degree to which you have learned from or been influenced by someone or something else
debt to
Braque acknowledged his debt to Impressionist painting.

4. debt of gratitude/thanks the fact of being grateful to someone who has helped you:
I owe a debt of gratitude to my tutors.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

debt
noun
I. sum of money owed
ADJ. big, crippling, enormous, high, huge, large, massive, substantial He was burdened with crippling debts.
mounting a company faced with mounting debts
outstanding, unpaid She used her lottery winnings to pay off her outstanding debts.
overdue | bad (= that cannot be repaid) Bad debt has hit the bank's profits this year.
long-term, short-term | overall, total | gross, net | commercial, corporate | external, foreign, international | national, public The country has a national debt of 80% of GNP.
gambling
VERB + DEBT be burdened with, have, owe (sb) the substantial debts that the company owed to the bank
incur, run up She ran up huge debts on her credit card.
clear, meet, pay (back/off), repay, settle Without a job, he'll never clear his debts. It'll take months to pay off all your debts.
reduce | tackle The new governments main aim is to tackle the country's massive debt.
default on The firm defaulted on its debt and its assets were seized. | cancel, wipe off/out, write off After a series of meetings, the banks were forced to write off the company's debts.
service (= pay interest on) The fall in exports has left the country unable to service its debts.
reschedule, restructure The company has reached a deal with its major creditors allowing it to restructure its debts.
secure a debt secured on property
DEBT + VERB fall due | stand at sth, total sth The national debt stands at $7,000 million.
arise from sth debts arising from bad investments
DEBT + NOUN collection, collector | burden
PREP. of ~ $80 million of debt
PHRASES a burden of debt Faced with a mounting burden of debt, he sold off the company.
payment/repayment/settlement of a debt

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

debt
II. state of owing money
ADJ. serious
VERB + DEBT go into, get into, slip into It is easy to get into serious debt with a credit card.
get out of You can get out of debt by strict economizing.
PREP. in ~ He was heavily in debt by the time he sought advice.
out of ~ struggling to stay out of debt
PHRASES deeply/heavily in debt

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

debt
III. sth that you owe sb
ADJ. great
VERB + DEBT owe | acknowledge, recognize
PREP. in sb's ~ I am in Ruth's debt for the excellent advice she gave me.
~ to In the introduction, the author acknowledges her debt to other writers on the subject.
PHRASES owe a debt of gratitude to sb We owe a great debt of gratitude to our families for their support.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

debt

have debts
Fortunately, I have no debts.
run up debts (also amass debts formal) (=borrow more and more money)
At that time he was drinking a lot and running up debts.
pay off a debt (=pay the money back)
The first thing I'm going to do is pay off my debts.
repay/settle a debt formal (=pay the money back)
He was hoping he would soon have enough money to settle his debts.
clear your debts (=repay all of them)
It took him three years to clear his bank debts.
service a debt (=pay the interest on a debt, but not pay it back)
By then, she was borrowing more money just to service her debts.
write off/cancel a debt (=say officially that it does not have to be paid)
The bank finally agreed to write off the debt.
be burdened with/saddled with debts (=have big debts)
Many poor countries are saddled with huge debts.
reduce a debt
The programme aims to reduce the debt of the world's poorest countries.
big/large
The debts got bigger and bigger.
huge (=very big)
Young people often leave university with huge debts.
unpaid/outstanding (=not yet paid)
The average outstanding debt on credit cards in Britain is now over £3,000.
heavy debts (=big debts)
The company wanted to reduce its heavy debts.
a bad debt (=one that is unlikely to be paid back)
Companies lose millions of pounds each year from having to write off bad debts.
a bank debt (=one that you owe to a bank)
The company closed with bank debts of about £350 million.
the national debt (=the total amount that is owed by the government of a country)
Their national debt is the third largest in the world.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

loan noun [countable] an amount of money that is borrowed, especially from a bank or company, which you agree to pay back by the end of a period of time:
We took out a loan to buy a new car.
He is paying back a $50,000 loan.
mortgage noun [countable] a large amount of money that someone borrows from a bank or company to buy a house:
Nick told me the mortgage on his apartment is worth about $90,000.
Anyone taking out a mortgage should be aware that interest rates can go up at any time.
It took my parents nearly thirty years to pay off their mortgage.
interest noun [uncountable] money that you pay for borrowing money, especially that you pay every year or every month at a fixed rate:
Credit companies charge huge amounts of interest.
What’s the interest on the loan?
overdraft noun [countable] British English the amount of money that you owe to bank when you have spent more money than you had in your account:
I left university with no job and a big overdraft.
20% of the bank’s customers regularly use their overdraft facility.
You have to pay a fee for unauthorized overdrafts.
debt noun [uncountable and countable] an amount of money that a person or organization owes:
The company now has debts of almost £2 million.
A lot of the money went towards paying his debts.
The family were $100,000 in debt (=they owed $100,000).
credit noun [uncountable] an arrangement with a shop or bank that allows you to buy something and pay for it later:
We bought the furniture on credit.
He had a credit limit of £7,000.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲