duty
[noun]
Synonyms:
- responsibility, assignment, function, job, obligation, role, task, work
- loyalty, allegiance, deference, obedience, respect, reverence
- tax, excise, levy, tariff, toll
- on duty: at work, busy, engaged, on active service

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Related Words: accountability, amenability, answerability, liability

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English Thesaurus: tax, duty, tariff, levy, surcharge, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

du‧ty S2 W1 /ˈdjuːti $ ˈduː-/ noun (plural duties)
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Anglo-French; Origin: dueté, from Old French deu; ⇒ due¹]

1. SOMETHING YOU MUST DO [uncountable and countable] something that you have to do because it is morally or legally right Synonym : obligation:
I promise I will do my duty.
We feel it is our duty to help her.
Local authorities have a duty to keep the streets clean.
You have a duty to your husband and to your children.
She has a strong sense of moral duty.
The unions have failed in their duty to female workers.
In the traditional Hindu family, the son is duty-bound to look after his mother.

2. WORK [countable usually plural, uncountable] something you have to do as part of your job
duties
Martin’s duties included cleaning the cars.
She works for her father doing part-time secretarial duties.
He will soon be fit enough to carry out his duties (=do his job).
He can only do light duties.
When Juliet reported for duty (=arrived and said she was ready to start work) she was sent to check on a new patient.
A teacher may be fired for neglect of duty (=failing to do their job properly).
He did three tours of duty in Vietnam (=three periods working in a foreign country as a soldier, government officer etc).

3. be on/off duty to be working or not working at a particular time, especially when you are doing a job which people take turns to do, so that someone is always doing it:
He’s on night duty.
Mary goes on duty (=starts working) tonight at half past ten.
What time do you go off duty (=finish work)?

4. TAX [uncountable and countable] a tax you pay on something you buy
duty on
the duty on cigarettes
customs duty (=tax paid on goods coming into the country) ⇒ death duties, stamp duty

5. do duty as something to be used as something Synonym : serve as something:
The living room also does duty as a home office.
⇒ double duty, heavy-duty, ⇒ jury duty at jury service, ⇒ on active duty at active service

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

duty
noun
I. sth that you have to do because it is right or expected
ADJ. contractual, legal, mandatory, statutory Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose.
general, primary the general duty of the police to preserve the peace
professional | civic, public I feel it is my civic duty to vote.
patriotic | family, filial, parental | ethical, moral He felt it was his moral duty to help his neighbour.
absolute, bounden, fundamental, sacred, solemn I feel it's my bounden duty to try and help her.
VERB + DUTY have, owe (law) You have a legal duty to take reasonable care. The railway company owes a duty of care to all its customers.
carry out, do, fulfil, meet, perform She put down the phone and went out, her duty done. She felt she had fulfilled her duty by providing him with a son.
fail in He had failed in his duty towards his daughter.
neglect, shirk I'd be shirking my duty if I didn't warn him.
assign, charge sb with, impose It was a duty imposed by her father.
assume, take on He took on the duty of maintaining the family home.
DUTY + VERB call I wanted to stop and chat, but duty called and I went back to the office.
PREP. under a/the ~ You are under a statutory duty to keep accurate records.
~ of It's the duty of each and every one of us to do their best for the team. They have a duty of confidentiality.
~ to, ~ towards They have a duty to their parents to work hard.
PHRASES a breach of duty It was a clear breach of professional duty.
do your duty I suppose we'd better do our duty and report the accident.
do your duty by sb You feel that you have to do your duty by your children.
be duty bound to do sth An employer is not duty bound to provide a reference when an employee leaves.
(above and) beyond the call of duty The time he put in helping new recruits went beyond the call of duty.
feel it your duty to do sth I felt it my duty to go to the police.
in breach of a duty (formal) It was ruled that the injured man was in breach of his duty by not wearing the safety equipment provided.
a sense of duty I did it out of a sense of duty.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

duty
II. tasks that you do when you are at work
ADJ. light When I returned to work after my illness I was put on light duties.
onerous | day, night At 10.45 p.m. she reported for night duty.
beat, escort, guard, point, sentry Police usually do beat duty in pairs. The traffic lights were not working so there was a policeman on point duty.
daily, routine | official | administrative, professional, secretarial | domestic, household My household duties were not particularly onerous.
military
VERB + DUTY have The members of staff each have their own duties.
carry out, discharge, do, perform She was unable to carry out her duties because she was too ill.
come on, go on, report for Colleagues became suspicious when he failed to report for duty.
come off, go off What time do you go off duty?
neglect, shirk He was accused of neglecting his professional duties.
resume, return to He leaves hospital tomorrow and is expected to resume his duties at the beginning of next month.
be released from Her son was released from duty in the army to visit her in hospital.
be relieved of, be suspended from When he failed to turn up for training, he was relieved of his duties as captain.
DUTY + NOUN doctor, nurse, officer, pharmacist He went to the police station and spoke to the duty officer.
PREP. off ~ I'm off duty tomorrow night.
on ~ You're not allowed to drink alcohol on duty.
PHRASES the execution/performance of your duties The company is liable if you are injured during the execution of your duty.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

duty
III. tax
ADJ. heavy, high the heavy duty on cigarettes
low | customs, excise, export, import excise duty on spirits
alcohol, fuel, tobacco, etc. Tobacco duty is a major source of revenue for the government.
death
QUANT. amount We tried to estimate the amount of duty we would have to pay.
VERB + DUTY put on, slap on They are going to put duty on foreign cars.
take off | increase, put up, raise They're going to put up the duty on tobacco.
cut, lower, reduce | pay | avoid, evade They claim that the wine is for personal use and so evade the duty.
be liable to Perfume is liable to import duty.
carry Cider carries duty at the lower rate.
be exempt from Beer for personal use is exempt from duty.
PREP. in ~ By changing its supplier, the company saved thousands of pounds in import duty.
~ on You have to pay duty on all electrical goods.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

duty

have a duty to do something
Parents have a duty to make sure that their children receive an education.
do your duty
I felt I had done my duty by voting.
fulfil your duty British English, fulfill your duty American English formal (=do what is needed)
The school has failed to fulfil its legal duty towards students.
have/owe a duty to somebody
A tenant owes a duty to the landlord to keep the house in reasonable condition.
fail in your duty (=not do something that you should do)
I would be failing in my duty if I didn't warn you of the dangers.
a moral duty
She felt it was her moral duty to treat everyone equally.
a legal duty
Employers have a legal duty to ensure the safety of their workforce.
a statutory duty (=required by law)
Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that parks are clean.
a public duty (=relating to the people of a country)
The media has a public duty to report the truth.
a civic duty (=done because you live in a place)
It is your civic duty to vote.
a sense of duty
He was caring for his parents out of a sense of duty rather than love.
be duty-bound to do something formal (=have a duty to do something)
Soldiers are here to do a job and are duty-bound to complete it.
carry out your duties (also perform/discharge your duties formal) (=do your job)
She has always carried out her duties efficiently.
take up your duties (=start doing a new job)
Neale has agreed a three-year contract and takes up his duties on March 1.
resume your duties (=start doing your job again)
She hopes to be well enough to resume her duties next week.
report for duty (=arrive and be ready to start work)
You must report for duty at 8:30 tomorrow morning.
neglect/shirk your duties (=not do your job properly)
No soldier can be allowed to neglect his duties.
official duties
The new President will take up his official duties next month.
presidential/royal/ministerial etc duties (=duties that go with being a president, member of a royal family, a minister etc)
The prince is now old enough to carry out royal duties.
household/domestic duties (=jobs you have to do around the house)
My husband and I share most of the household duties.
light duties (=not involving hard physical work)
He'd been wounded, sent home and put on light duties.
guard duty (=job of guarding a place)
There were two soldiers on guard duty outside the embassy.
neglect of duty (=failing to do your job properly)
Six police officers were fired for neglect of duty.
a tour of duty (=period of working in another country as a soldier, government officer etc)
He became a General, and his tours of duty included Korea and Vietnam.
beyond the call of duty (=more than you have to do as part of your job)
She's a doctor who has gone beyond the call of duty in her care for her patients.
in the course of duty (=while doing your job, especially for your country)
Stewart received a medal for outstanding bravery in the course of duty.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tax money that you must pay to the government, especially from the money you earn, or as an additional payment when you buy something:
How much income tax do you pay each month?
The Republicans promised to reduce taxes before the last election.
Consumers are angry that the tax on petrol has gone up yet again.
duty a tax you pay on something you buy:
The budget also sharply raised the duty on alcohol and tobacco.
customs duty (=tax you pay on goods you buy and bring into the country)
tariff a tax on goods coming into a country or going out of a country, especially to protect a country’s industry from cheap goods from other countries:
the import tariffs on hi-tech equipment
The government’s tariff and trade policies came under fierce attack.
levy an extra amount of money that you have to pay the government, usually as a tax, often in order to encourage people not to use or do something:
A new levy on fuel inefficient vehicles has been proposed.
surcharge an amount of money that you have to pay in addition to the agreed or stated price of something:
British Airways will increase its fuel surcharge on all airline tickets from June 3.
When you get cash at some machines, you have to pay an ATM surcharge.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

duty
ˈdju:tɪ
See: do duty for , double duty , heavy duty , off duty , on duty

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

Duty
· A tax imposed on imports by the customs authority of a country. Duties are generally based on the value of the goods (ad valorem duties), some other factors such as weight or quantity (specific duties), or a combination of value and other factors (compound duties).

[TahlilGaran] Acronyms and Abbreviations Dictionary ▲

· A tax levied by a government on the import, export or use and consumption of goods.

[TahlilGaran] Acronyms and Abbreviations Dictionary ▲