debtnoun [ C or U ]
uk/det/us/det/B2 something, especially money, that is owed to someone else, or the state of owing something:
He managed to pay off his debts in two years.
The company ran up huge debts.
They are in debt to (= owe money to) the bank.
He got into debt (= borrowed money) after he lost his job.
The company is deep in debt (= owes a lot of money).
See also
indebted
More examples
- The national debt stands at 55 billion dollars.
- He had to borrow money to pay off his gambling debts.
- She keeps running up huge debts and asking friends to bail her out.
- They piled up such a huge debt that they soon went bankrupt.
- His economic policies have won widespread praise for reducing government debt.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Borrowing & lending
- be in the hole idiom
- borrow
- bounce
- call it quits idiom
- call sth in
- credit
- debenture
- fire sale
- gearing
- leverage
- leveraged buyout
- liability
- liquidate
- national debt
- overpay
- pay
- put sth up
- slate
- term
- tick
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