debtdebt /det/ ●●● S3 W2 noun 
She had debts of over £100,000. He had enough money to pay off his outstanding debts. students who run up huge debts2[uncountable] when you owe money to someone OPP creditin 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 elsedebt to Braque acknowledged his debt to Impressionist painting.4debt of gratitude/thanks the fact of being grateful to someone who has helped you: I owe a debt of gratitude to my tutors.COLLOCATIONSverbshave 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.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + debtbig/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.
WORD ORIGINdebt
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French dette, from Latin debitum, from debere ‘to owe’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Debt is one of the main social problems of our time.
- He protected less profitable state farms by writing off their debts.
- It took us three years to pay off all our debts.
- Lenders must try and protect themselves against bad debts.
- The government now has debts of $2.5 billion.
- To pay the interest on our foreign debt, we will have to import less.
- However, the members will be personally liable to the company to the full extent for the debts of the company.
- In the past few years thousands of farmers have committed suicide because of escalating debts.
- Shareholders and creditors agree to restructure debts and payment schedules and, often, to swap debt for riskier equity.
- Since there are many different categories of debt issues, there are many different possible types of yield curves.
- The credit industry argues that the changes are needed to prevent people who can repay their debts from hiding behind bankruptcy law.
- The Issue Department frequently engages in open-market operations as part of the Bank's debt management.
- Unfortunately, widespread foot-dragging continues to act as a brake on debt relief.
THESAURUS
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.
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.
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?
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.
noun [countable, uncountable] 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).
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.
Longman Language Activatormoney that someone owes money that you owe, especially a large amount: · Debt is one of the main social problems of our time.debt of: · The government now has debts of $2.5 billion.pay off/repay a debt (=pay all the money that you owe): · It took us three years to pay off all our debts.write off a debt (=agree that it will not and does not need to be repaid): · He protected less profitable state farms by writing off their debts.foreign debt (=money owed by foreign countries): · To pay the interest on our foreign debt, we will have to import less.a bad debt (=a debt that will never be repaid): · Lenders must try and protect themselves against bad debts.
an amount of money that you owe to your bank when you have spent more money that you had in your bank account: · I've already got an enormous overdraft.a £100/$1500 etc overdraft: · When he left college, he had a $3000 overdraft.
the debts that a company, government etc is legally responsible to pay - used especially in legal and business contexts: · The chart shows the movements in the company's liabilities and assets during a particular trading period.· US external net liabilities rose throughout the 1980s.
the total amount of money that a company has borrowed and owes - used in business contexts: · Borrowings at the end of the year amounted to nearly $27 million.· The company was now so large it could increase its borrowings to almost any figure it chose.
a note that you write saying that you owe someone money or that you will pay for something later - often used by journalists as an informal word for a legal agreement in which one business or organization owes another money: · Essentially, a bond is an IOU.give somebody an IOU: · There was anger among farmers, who were being given IOUs instead of cash for their crops.
to owe a lot of money to owe a lot more money than you can pay: · When my father died we discovered that he was heavily in debt.· A disastrous attempt to expand left the airline deep in debt.be deep/heavily in debt to: · The country is already heavily in debt to foreign banks.
informal to owe very large sums of money that you cannot pay: · Knowing that I was up to my ears in debt, Edwin offered to help me out.· When their business failed, they found themselves up to their necks in debt.
to owe money to someone if you owe someone money, you have to pay them, either because you borrowed money from them or because you got something from them and have not yet paid for it: · The business collapsed, owing $50 million.· His job was to phone people who owed money and demand immediate payment.owe somebody something: · You still owe me $5.owe something to somebody: · We owe a lot of money to the bank.owe somebody something for something: · How much do we owe you for the milk?
if you are in debt , you owe a lot of money and you have difficulty paying it: · The helpline offers financial advice to people who are in debt.get into debt (=start being in debt): · We got into debt when my wife lost her job.be £1000/$2000 etc in debt (=owe that amount): · The report showed that most students were over £1000 in debt on leaving college.be heavily in debt (=owe a very large amount of money): · Karen was forced to give up her job to look after her daughter, and the family is now heavily in debt.
to owe money to your bank because you have spent more than you had in your bank account: · I'm always overdrawn at the end of the month.be $100/£200 etc overdrawn: · The bank wrote to tell us we were $500 overdrawn.
to have spent more than you have earned: · My son's bank account is usually in the red.· After five quarters in the red, the business will soon be profitable.be deep in the red (=owe a lot more than you have): · Overseas payments could keep the country deep in the red for the next decade.
to have not paid money, such as rent, that you should pay at a particular time every month, year etc - used especially in official or legal documents: · Two out of three tenants are in arrears.be 6 months/3 weeks etc in arrears: · The number of mortgages over 12 months in arrears is rising.be £1000/$200 etc in arrears: · The country is reported to be $6 billion in arrears on its $115 billion debt.be in arrears with/on: · The courts can obtain payments for those in arrears with consumer credit agreements.
to have not paid an amount that you should pay regularly at the right time: · I have no money in my bank account, and I'm behind with my rent.fall behind with something: · Unemployment is the major cause of people falling behind with their mortgage repayments.
to begin to owe money · The only way we could avoid getting into debt was to borrow money from our parents.get heavily into debt (=begin to owe a lot of money) · They got so heavily into debt that they couldn't even pay the interest on their loans.
to allow your debts to increase quickly, especially by continuing to spend money that you do not really have: · The government has run up an unrepayable debt of $6 billion.run up debts: · I'm not in the habit of running up debts.· His son was wild and irresponsible and had run up debts that he expected his father to pay.
to not pay back a debt that you should pay according to the law: · If the purchaser defaults, the house becomes the property of the savings and loan company.default on: · In those days, anyone who defaulted on a loan was put in prison.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYverbs The landlady came around once a month to collect the rent. a debt counselling service If the council loses the appeal, it will incur all the legal costs. the heavy losses incurred by airlines since September 11th a debt-laden company They faced mounting debts. the debt that we owe to our teachers Your mortgage will be repaid over 25 years. the repayment of debt people caught in the unemployment trapCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· Fortunately, I have no debts.
(also amass debts formal) (=borrow more and more money)· At that time he was drinking a lot and running up debts.
(=pay the money back)· The first thing I'm going to do is pay off my debts.
formal (=pay the money back)· He was hoping he would soon have enough money to settle his debts.
(=repay all of them)· It took him three years to clear his bank debts.
(=pay the interest on a debt, but not pay it back)· By then, she was borrowing more money just to service her debts.
(=say officially that it does not have to be paid)· The bank finally agreed to write off the debt.
(=have big debts)· Many poor countries are saddled with huge debts.
· The programme aims to reduce the debt of the world's poorest countries.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + debt· The debts got bigger and bigger.
(=very big)· Young people often leave university with huge debts.
(=not yet paid)· The average outstanding debt on credit cards in Britain is now over £3,000.
(=big debts)· The company wanted to reduce its heavy debts.
(=one that is unlikely to be paid back)· Companies lose millions of pounds each year from having to write off bad debts.
(=one that you owe to a bank)· The company closed with bank debts of about £350 million.
(=the total amount that is owed by the government of a country)· Their national debt is the third largest in the world.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES· He made a serious attempt ease the country's debt burden.
The landlady came around once a month to collect the rent. (=money people owe because they buy too much)· the growth in consumer debt
a debt counselling service (=helping with debt, stress etc problems)· A debt counsellor has been helping the family.
· The failure of the crop this year will create a food crisis.
· I owe my former teacher a deep debt of gratitude.
If the council loses the appeal, it will incur all the legal costs. the heavy losses incurred by airlines since September 11th a debt-laden company They faced mounting debts. the debt that we owe to our teachers Your mortgage will be repaid over 25 years. the repayment of debt people caught in the unemployment trap· The banks would have fewer bad debt provisions to declare.· It also has fewer subsidiaries to shunt bad debt into.· The disadvantage of a bad debt warranty and indemnity is that all it does is provide a remedy for the purchaser.· Those loans are the focal point of the bad-debt crisis plaguing the financial system and weighing down the economy.· Most large societies have also made heavy provisions against bad debts.· Foreign sellers have led the charge, frantically dumping stocks of banks burdened with mountains of bad debt, according to analysts.· Unfortunately most of the extra cash grabbed was swallowed up by bad debts.· Firstly, there is no reason why the purchaser should pay for items which eventually materialise into bad debts.
· This is measured by the difference between the yields on twenty-year government and corporate debt. 2.· As for issuing activity Friday: Only $ 220 million of agency debt was priced; no straight corporate debt was offered.· Margins and jobs are still shrinking in many industries and corporate debt has doubled in the last five years.· In the new issue market, more than $ 500 million of agency debt and no new corporate debt was sold.· Prospects are even gloomier in the corporate-debt markets.· They point out that corporate bad debts have soared as the economy has slumped.· But deflation is also squeezing corporate margins and making it harder to tackle the high levels of corporate and national debts.
· Despite this major problem, banks must endeavour to monitor the external debt position of countries.· A high ratio invariably means future output growth and, hopefully, improved external debt servicing capacity through increased exports.· By 1988 bank borrowing accounted for only 53% of their external financing; debt equalled only 63% of their assets.· The overall external debt was US$6,900 million.
· The first column shows that the poorest regions tend to have the highest ratios of foreign debt to social product.· Hammadi said that the budget would reduce by US$2,495 million foreign debts including new loans expected in 1990.· During the three years he was in charge over £300 million in foreign debts were accumulated.· In 1977, the Republic's foreign debt was about £1 000 million a year.· Foreign-exchange reserves have been maintained at their current low level only by failing to pay back some foreign debt.· The first priority is the servicing of foreign debts and other foreign contracts.· An estimated US$1,500 million of this assistance, however, was expected to be absorbed by foreign debt service payments.· Much of the country's foreign debt was built up during the apartheid-sponsored civil war, which cost 1m lives.
· And high levels of debt offered one possible solution to problems of how to discipline managers.· Return on equity is extremely high, but this is due mainly to the extremely high debt position of Technosystems.· The combination of tight money and high debt is causing more than token distress.· Look for REITs that have either high debts and high cash distribution.· Lower interest rates in 1992 more than compensated for the effect of higher average debt levels.· The company stands to save at least $ 13 million a year in interest expense by replacing higher-cost debt.· Sales across the country were slower than expected this year as consumers grappled with higher debts and concern about a weaker economy.· Wall Street analysts say waste companies in general have steady cash flows, making it easier to service higher levels of debt.
· The Belfast company had huge debts and was on the brink of collapse.· This has resulted in huge profits for the wholesalers and huge debts for the utilities.· The recession has deepened, the huge national debt has increased, the people's lot worsened.· For more than a decade, the farming kibbutz where Avishi Grossman spent his life has struggled under a huge debt.· The company has huge debts relative to its size - the most recent available figures show Sock Shop's gearing was 200 percent.· You could end up being worse off, with huge debts on top of being jobless.· From its exports it can earn foreign currency, and begin to pay off its huge debts.· But the depressed market has caused the company to build up huge debts.
· But many people in the South East who enjoy large salaries also have large fixed debts and overheads.· He persuaded Eisner that interest rates were ideal for assuming a large amount of debt.· Firms, too, have large debts.· Rising interest rates would increase the costs of refinancing the rest of the large national debt that our government continuously rolls over.· This state of affairs follows the collapse of Mountain with a large level of debt an the receiver snapping at the door.· An especially large debt is owed to the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College for supporting my research at a critical time.· That is the largest debt collection exercise in history.· Webb was an immodest publicist of his achievements, and amassed wealth but also large debts.
· They could buy out national debts, hold governments to ransom, close down whole economies if they wanted to.· His proposed tax cuts are warmed-over Reaganomics that could saddle our children with an ever-increasing national debt.· Joseph Harker To whom do we owe the national debt?· On that same day, the Treasury Department will run out of money to pay off the national debt.· Here a perennial topic in traditional public finance - the burden of the national debt - is considered.· Rising interest rates would increase the costs of refinancing the rest of the large national debt that our government continuously rolls over.· They all invest money through National Savings, the Government agency that provides safer investment and services the national debt.· The result was the ballooning national debt.
· And the outstanding debt which excludes mortgages has seen a three-fold increase to £40 billion.· A borrower had a personal covenant with the lender who could still sue for outstanding debts.· Those in the higher socio-economic groups and consumers over 45 years old tend to have higher net savings relative to their outstanding debt.· When some one died, the administrator collected all assets of the deceased and paid his outstanding debts.· Continuing anxiety about the state of the economy forced families to pay off more outstanding debt last month.· Aims are to reduce outstanding debt and achieve low interest payments.· At the end of his term abroad he sells the house and repays any outstanding debt.
· High military expenditure will fuel inflation, reduce international competitiveness, and balance of payments crises will occur as public debt increases.· Elorriaga had decided to withdraw when Congress refused to support his proposals on taxation and on the refunding of the public debt.· If the building society had used the additional deposit to buy public sector debt, then the consequence would have been avoided.· The Maastricht rules also impose strict limits on public debt.· As we will discover in Chapter 15, in recent years large Federal deficits have caused the public debt to rise sharply.· That issue, its first public debt sale, was priced to yield 7. 25 percent.
· Only cancellation means definitive ending of the total debt.· Nearly half of the annual total debt amount was accounted for by only 36 financial institutions, Kuroda said.· Several of the major accounts appeared to be excessively overdue when compared with the total ledger aged debt statistics.· What is your total credit card debt today?· In 1993, this total debt surpassed $ 3 trillion.
NOUN· The expense of servicing the debt burden increased the budget deficit, which in turn stimulated inflation.· Their debt burden, more than $ 24 billion, has never been higher.· The debt burden is weighing more and more heavily on the weakest economies.· In addition, Alpha demanded a higher cash flow from Mega to meet its debt burden.· By the end of 1992, Metrologie claims it will have reduced its debt burden from £122.26 million to £59.77 million.· Needless to say, virtually all debtor governments are counting on continued negotiations with their creditors to alleviate their debt burdens.· The countries in which they live labour under a massive debt burden - £784 billion of it.· The current debt burden will be written off and the organisation liberated from the public finance system.
· The debt collector himself had small debts and was questioned several years ago in Milan over alleged extortion of a client.· By 1994 there were already 2. 4 debt collectors for each 1, 000 families in the United States.· Are you going to use your local agents or staff, a debt collector, a solicitor, political pressure or what?· They're not really bookies these days, they're just debt collectors.· The college takes 500 pupils from across the world and decided to call in debt collectors as a last resort.· Most satisfyingly, of course, debt collectors made an enormous number of personal calls, sometimes international ones.· The debt collector bought up all his debts, and now he owes nearly twice the previous amount.
· The result could be world recession and a worsening of the international debt crisis.· The debt crisis has made commercial banks and international donors wary of making certain types of investments.· A well researched, highly readable account of the debt crisis.· Those loans are the focal point of the bad-debt crisis plaguing the financial system and weighing down the economy.· Since the onset of the debt crisis in the early 1980s more than 70 countries were currently having serious debt problems.· The so-called debt crisis is clearly not a crisis for everyone.· After 1982, the Third World debt crisis also turned banks towards the home market in the search for creditworthy borrowers.
· Yet shrinking economies mean falling tax revenues and so larger budget deficits and more government debt.· Yields of 10-year bonds fell in six of the 12 major government debt markets tracked by Bloomberg Business News.· This is measured by the total monthly spread between government debt and treasury bills. 3.· This means that any effects of the government debt may be neutralized by the appropriate combination of lump-sum taxes and transfers.· Some 90 percent of government debt is financed from domestic savings, leaving little capital spare for stocks.· This is because ScottishPower repurchased £142 million of government debt last November, in the light of falling interest rates.
· Marriage breakdown can be followed by debt problems.· The couple is to be commended for attempting to resolve their debt problem.· In recent years, especially since 1982, a number of countries have developed very serious international debt problems.· Clinton also asked Glickman to report back within 30 days with recommendations to help alleviate debt problems afflicting cattle producers.· There is, however, no systematic training for volunteers who become concerned over issues like the rainforest, the debt problem.· Several ministers of finance tried their hand at coping with the foreign and internal debt problem.· Finally, the importance of illness and unemployment as factors which can push credit users into serious debt problems is clear.· The Citizens' Advice Bureaux are used to helping people sort out their debt problems.
· Multilateral institutions would be asked for debt reductions equivalent to those agreed by the private banks.· He also would establish a national debt-elimination sinking fund to set aside the fruits of economic growth for debt reduction.· The alternative is to push the task of debt reduction even further into the future.· Baldwin had aimed by his example at a debt reduction of £1000 million.· Managers charge a fee and a cut of any debt reduction.
· They promised deeper, speedier debt relief at last year's Cologne summit.· He also wants debt relief linked to reform of the International Monetary Fund.· Eight countries that have received debt relief are still paying more on their debts than on health and education.· Moreover, whether or not conditions are attached to debt relief, they will certainly be attached to other forms of aid.· As things stand, only 14 countries are likely to qualify for HIPC2 debt relief this year.· So far their progress on debt relief has been agonisingly slow.· In the end the Group of Seven leading industrial nations supported the debt relief campaign for two reasons.· Progress on debt relief has been miserably slow; it would probably have been even slower without the pledges made in Cologne.
· Southern California Edison, one of the electricity companies facing bankruptcy, defaulted on debt repayments of $ 596m.· Any outstanding debt repayment requirements and / or restrictive covenants on long term debt agreements are additional important. considerations.· As a message about debt repayment, it proved far more effective than a letter writing campaign.· One hundred bankers have been invited to Toronto on April 13 when O&Y is expected to seek formal suspension of debt repayments.· From such perspectives, requirements for any further debt repayments are immoral and illegitimate.· However, all these initiatives require heavy investment at a time when economies are squeezed by foreign debt repayments.· Consumers complained about unaffordable debt repayment settings on both gas and electricity meters.· The property tax will be levied, on the predictable base of immovable property, to yield the required annual debt repayments.
· But one main purpose, protecting the small investor, barely arises with debt securities.· The most notable example is debt securities which companies promise to hold until they mature.· The legislation covers all debt securities including gilts.· June 97: Verio announces the successful offering of $ 150 million in institutionally-placed debt securities.· The screen-based systems of the exchanges now make it feasible to disseminate price quotations for debt securities and to report transactions.· These high-yield debt securities are considered to be instruments of the devil.· These are debt securities that can be converted into stock.
· In more than half of the years between 1713 and 1785 debt service took up more than 40 percent of total revenue.· The county faces a $ 5. 2 million debt service payment this fiscal year, Kelly said.· Foreign exchange earnings were projected at US$8,998 million, of which US$2,227 million would be spent on debt service.· As a federal spending program, Medicare now ranks fourth behind Social Security, defense and debt service.· The resultant deferred debt service charges are included in debtors.· Denver International must take in at least $ 304 million in revenues next year to cover annual debt service and operating costs.· Kiyonga said that declining terms of trade and heavy debt service payments continued to prevent rapid economic rehabilitation.· The North receives a kind of colonial tribute in debt service, whilst getting its raw materials at rock-bottom prices.
· Susan George reveals the dynamic behind the debt trap.· It became a more serious potential debt trap than running up bills at retailers.· Job fears and the mortgage debt trap are failing to halt the housing slump.
· The Group linked third world debt and more favourable trade agreements to environmental issues.· The arms trade increases Third World debt, which is a burden born by the poorest.· Hastily Stevens laid down his book on Third World debt and straightened his reclining chair.· Last year's figures were boosted by strong foreign-exchange earnings and a £122 million write-back from third world debt provisions.· Labour would implement environmentally-progressive policies and press for reductions and possibly cancellations in third world debt.· In the same way, the West continues to make large sums of money from Third World debt.· Given third world debt problems and so on, many corporates are stronger credits than many banks.· Labour will promote environmentally sustainable development and encourage new approaches to reduce Third World debt.
VERB· While acknowledging their debt to Hearsay-II, they point out a number of differences.· Years later, she acknowledged the debt she owed him for those early lessons in self-determination.· Certainly, Bentham acknowledged his debt to Beccaria.· Shelley has always acknowledged his debt to the late doctor.· I want to acknowledge a personal debt to him.· Brooks attended to every detail of his churches and Mackmurdo later acknowledged his debt to him as an exemplar of methodical thoroughness.
· A cheque completely clearing the debt has been sent to Donovan's lawyers.· His argument is that once we have cleared the debt we could buy a car with another loan.· Borrowers were told that policies might not only clear their mortgage debt but might also give them an additional lump sum.· As fast as it came in, it went out to clear his debt.· With a personal loan you have to stick to a fixed schedule of repayments to clear the debt within a fixed period.· If she won, her broker was to receive three times her normal fee, enough to clear her debt.· So they did the switch, cleared their debts, and now £6 a month better off.· Should you hang on to your cash or clear your debts?
· Some firms will be told to sell off non-essential assets to cut their debt.· Lower bill yields would cut the amount of debt to be retired at each auction, reducing borrowing requirements and the deficit.· Profits were boosted by an interest charge slashed from £9.9 million to £4 million as a result of measures to cut debts.· Trafalgar said it aims to cut debt and revamp its money-losing engineering and cruise line business.· The Asda cash will be used to cut debts to about £100 million and allow the revamping and relocation of some stores.· It has fought for two years to survive the recession, selling assets to cut spiralling debts.
· The Society of Friends were equally severe about members who fell into debt.· Those who fall deeply into personal debt become vulnerable to unflattering press reports.
· Otherwise lawyers would involve her every day more and more; debts would increase more debts.· Anything higher tends to increase the debt at a compound rate.· Closing Dumenil Leble will increase Cerus's debt to 2 billion francs from 1 billion.· If the assessed valuation of Los Angeles could be rapidly increased, its debt ceiling would be that much higher.· A three-fifths vote would be required to increase the federal debt.· They are demanding that Clinton accept much of their proposal before they will increase the debt ceiling limit.
· We are trying to drag them here soas to get direct investment and to get foreign capital without incurring foreign debt.· Under the city charter, Los Angeles was prohibited from incurring a debt greater than 15 percent of its assessed valuation.· Mr McGovern also claims to be free of the banks, never having incurred much long-term debt.· They must incur debt if they are to keep abreast.· If one was punctual and could pay in the long run, why incur the debt at all?· Loans would only incur future debt obligations, thereby hindering growth.
· The previous mayor, Sanyu Ishii, disappeared suddenly after resigning in mid-June because of mounting gambling debts.· He struggled on in the face of mounting debts, but his days as a Niagara entrepreneur were over.
· We all owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we wish him well.· We owe debts in a democracy if we want to keep it, and sometimes payment requires facing danger.· Eliot at once sent him a cablegram, saying that he was one to whom all contemporary poets owed a debt.· I never saw them again and yet I owe them a debt, a gratitude.· Joseph Harker To whom do we owe the national debt?· Although his stories are actually more historical adventure than romance, later romance authors owe him a great debt.· The arguments are moral: the rich countries owe a debt for the ravaged resources of the Third World.· Each of the Padres' two franchise postseason appearances has owed a debt to free-agent acquisitions.
· Magistrates at Saxmundham ordered Nick to pay the debt with £12 costs.· The agreement ends a year-long dispute over how to resolve paying the debt.· He might have pledged it to pay his debts, or sold it.· He lost all the money and drove me into a situation where it took me 10 years to pay off debts.· They say they were left financially strapped or forced to forfeit their homes to pay off the debts.· They say their business makes sense for winners who need immediate cash to pay off debts, start up businesses or invest.· Foreign-exchange reserves have been maintained at their current low level only by failing to pay back some foreign debt.· He paid off his debts and was named deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in 1985.
· Money paid by the defendant is appropriated first to reducing the principal debt and then towards the interest.· The cash raised will be used to reduce Courtaulds's debt, he added.· The budget surplus of A$8,107 million was the fourth consecutive surplus, and would be used to reduce overseas debt.· Analysts said that with reduced debt and better cash flow, Hopewell can move ahead with projects it has started.· It also remains to be seen what the Halls can do to reduce the club's debts of £6.5m.· In accounting terms, this maneuver has the same effect as paying off the government securities and reducing the federal debt.· Finally his estate was reduced by debts to £4 net.· The endorsement fees should go a long way toward reducing her reported debt of 3 million pounds, about $ 5 million.
· It has gone in repaying the overseas debt that we inherited from the last Labour Government.· There would be a counterpart increase in consumer saving as the unpersuaded allowed their bank balances to grow and repaid their debts.· Net proceeds will be used to repay short and long-term debt, refinance long term debt and for working capital.· They do not have to repay the debts.· Around NZ$4,200 million of this was allocated to repaying domestic and foreign debt.· That generated plenty of dollars the government could use to repay debts.· In spite of their neutrality some one might remember, and might repay the debt.· It will use about half of the funds raised from the sale to repay existing debt.
· The family were not rich; much of their land had been sold to pay the debts of successive wastrel sons.· The Federal Farm Credit Banks are slated to sell debt.· Your business will almost certainly be closed, your employees dismissed and most of your assets sold to cover your debts.· It borrows money by selling its own debt and invests in student loans.· All your property can be sold to recover debts.· The two companies estimated that by selling the debt as securities, the surcharge to customers could eventually be reduced.
· I'd like to whisk her away on my white charger, but I have to settle my debts first.· Another gives generously yet never settles his debts.· Tam again settled his debts, and again found himself with virtually nothing left.· The settling of Tam's debts turned out to be less difficult than I had expected.· It's for him to come down here and settle his debts, like everybody else in the valley.· On his return, he borrowed money from Harriet to settle debts from his continental fling.
· Of the top 19 banks, 13 are expected to make losses this year as they write off bad debts.· First, it was easy, because mentally they had already written those debts off.· They may yet have to write the debt off.· He was honest: he wrote his debt in the departmental notebook on the draining board.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► be up to your ears in work/debt/problems etc► forgive a debt/loan► be over your head in debt► toxic debt/loan/asset
1[countable] a sum of money that a person or organization owesdebt of- In addition to that great teacher of prayer, there were others to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.
- Some say it is because of Baba Firdaus and his holy life, others say because Amanullah Khan paid his debt of gratitude.
- The present writer owes him a particularly deep debt of gratitude.
- Their varied tasks in the Library have all contributed to its success and we owe them a very real debt of gratitude.
- We all owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we wish him well.
- We all owe Solly a deep debt of gratitude for his services to the cause of jazz for so many years.
- As the banks were squeezed, they called in loans and forced bankruptcy on their clients.
- As we have seen, if banks are short of cash they can call in loans from the discount houses.
- No banks to call in loans.
- The college takes 500 pupils from across the world and decided to call in debt collectors as a last resort.
- It is coupled with Gade's third symphony, a work combining originality with clear debt to Mendelsshon's symphonic style.
- After my surgery, we were deep in debt with doctor bills.
- Besides, Tam was deep in debt to Richie again, and couldn't really afford to go anywhere.
- Her husband Peter is dying of cancer and the couple are deep in debt.
- Ron and Melanie found themselves out of work and deep in debt.
- The Charterhouse, also deep in debt, was passed over in silence.
- The firms involved have ended up bankrupt or deep in debt, healthy companies turned into cripples.
- Their use should minimise water use to making good losses through evaporation.
- Barnardo's had to draw £1.7 million from its reserves to meet costs.
- After 20 years in jail, Murray feels he has paid his debt to society.
- For Gieves the tailors, the extent to which clients indulged in running up bills regardless had become extremely serious.
- Having run up a debt of over £100,000, they're unlikely to be forgotten by Virgin Records in a hurry.
- He spent 3 months there, running up bills of £30,000, as yet unpaid.
- If my neighbours ran up a bill and refused to pay we would not be expected to pay it.
- It became a more serious potential debt trap than running up bills at retailers.
- Model customers run up bills and pay in installments, with the high interest that makes the business so lucrative.
- The problem of running up debts to pay for the elderly is straight-forward.
- They continue to run up bills and never build equity in their house.
- The result is inadequate cash flow to service debt during the first critical years after purchase.
- The workers and peasants toil and sweat to service debts owed to the international bankers and multilateral agencies.
She had debts of over £100,000. He had enough money to pay off his outstanding debts. students who run up huge debts2[uncountable] when you owe money to someone OPP creditin 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 elsedebt to Braque acknowledged his debt to Impressionist painting.4debt of gratitude/thanks the fact of being grateful to someone who has helped you: I owe a debt of gratitude to my tutors.COLLOCATIONSverbshave 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.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + debtbig/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.