owe /əʊ $ oʊ/ ●●● S2 W3 verb [transitiveT] → oh1 money 钱OWE to need to pay someone for something that they have done for you or sold to you, or to need to give someone back money that they have lent you 欠〔钱〕;负债 → borrow, lendowe somebody money/£10 etc I owe my brother $50. 我欠弟弟50美元。
owe somebody for something I still owe you for the taxi. 我还欠你出租车费呢。
How much do I owe you (=often used to show that you want to pay for something)? 我该付你多少钱?
owe something to somebody the money owed to credit card companies 欠信用卡公司的钱
2 STH done/given 该做/该给的东西SHOULD/OUGHT TO to feel that you should do something for someone or give someone something, because they have done something for you or given something to you 应该做;应给予;对…负有…的义务 He asked for help from a colleague who owed him a favour. 他请了一个同事帮忙,那人曾欠他一个情。
owe somebody a drink/letter etc I owe Shaun a letter; I must write soon. 我欠肖恩一封信,我得尽快写。
Thanks a lot for being so understanding about all this – I owe you one (=used to thank someone who has helped you, and to say that you are willing to help them in the future)! 非常感谢你对这一切这么理解——我欠你一个人情!
owe somebody (=be in a position in which someone has helped you, so that you should help them) 该报答某人 Let’s go and see Joe – he owes me! 我们去找找乔看——他欠我的情呢!
3 owe somebody an explanation/apology SORRY/APOLOGIZEto feel that you should give someone an explanation of why you did something, or say you are sorry 该向某人解释/致歉 You owe him an apology. 你应该向他道歉。
owe somebody an explanation/apology• At the same time I felt I was owed an explanation.• I guess I owe her an apology.• I think these people who said those hateful things about him owe him an apology.• In light of this, do you feel you owe the world an apology?• Of course, a decision not to have children is a legitimate choice, and whoever makes it owes no explanation.• You owe him an apology for misjudging him and suspecting his motives at every turn.• At the very least a clear case is owed a clear explanation if it is rejected.• I think you owe an apology to Clegg. 4 help to achieve STH 帮助做成某事 a) BECAUSEto have something or achieve something because of what someone else has done 把…归功于,有…是由于owe something to somebody He probably owes his life to her prompt action. 很可能是因为她行动迅速,才救了他一命。
b) IMPORTANTto know that someone’s help has been important to you in achieving something 感激owe somebody a lot/owe somebody a great deal ‘I owe my parents a lot, ’ he admitted. “我非常感激我的父母。”他承认道。
He owes a great deal to his publishers. 他非常感激他的出版商。
owe it all to somebody/owe everything to somebody I owe it all to you. 这一切都多亏了你。
owe somebody a debt (of gratitude) the debt that we owe to our teachers 我们对老师们的感激之情
5 good effect 良好的效果BECAUSE to be successful because of the good effect or influence of something or someone 归功于〔某事〕owe to Their success owes more to good luck than to careful management. 他们的成功更多靠的是好运气,而不是苦心经营。
Pearson’s work owed much to the research of his friend, Hugh Kingsmill. 皮尔逊的工作成果很大程度上应该归功于他朋友休•金斯米尔的研究。
6 owe it to somebody to do something IMPORTANTto feel you should do something for someone, because they have helped you or given you support 〔认为〕应该为某人做某事 You owe it to your supporters not to give up now. 为了对得起你的支持者,你现在不应该放弃。
7 owe it to yourself to do something DESERVEto feel you should try to achieve something because it is what you deserve 〔认为〕自己应该做某事 You owe it to yourself to take some time off. 你该让自己休息一下了。
owe it to yourself to do something• Do I owe it to myself to finish?• We owe it to ourselves to consider alternative futures, based on what we know and what we can project from that.• You owe it to yourself to extract yourself from your present situation and reassess your life.• For health insurance reasons you owe it to yourself to take care of your one and only body - your working machine. 8 owe loyalty/allegiance etc to somebody OBEYto have a duty to obey someone 负有效忠某人的义务 provinces owing allegiance to the Emperor 必须效忠皇帝的各省
9. think that the world owes you a living LAZYto be unwilling to work in order to get things, and expect them to be provided for you – used to show disapproval 认为生来就该过舒服的日子〔含贬义〕 n THESAURUSowe to need to pay someone for something they have sold to you or because they have lent you money – used especially when talking about particular amounts of moneyYou owe me $50.
The football club still owes £2.3 million.
be in debt to owe money, especially to several different companies – used when talking about a person’s financial situationShe hates being in debt.
We started getting deeper and deeper into debt.
be overdrawn to owe an amount of money to your bank because you have taken more money out of an account than you have put inHe received a letter saying he was overdrawn.
The bank charged me even though I was only a few pence overdrawn.
have an overdraft to be overdrawn, with the agreement of your bankWhen I finished college I had a big overdraft.
be in the red informal to have spent more money than you haveThe firm is £190,000,000 in the red.
owe• How much do you owe?• The business collapsed, owing $50 million.• We all owe a debt of gratitude to Mrs Stevenson, who kindly donated the money for the project.• I owe a great deal to my publishers, who helped me to finish writing the book.• We owe a lot of money to the bank.• But to that doctor I owe a portion of my sanity.• Perhaps, to some extent, she thought with wry amusement, she owed her professional success to Jake.• South Florida owes him the respect one gives to a stern high school teacher.• Forget what he owes his readers.• But they owe, if anything, even more to Essene tradition.• I owe it all to you. You were the only one who believed in me.• I owe it to Carrie and Mikey.• You still owe me $5.• You're going to owe me if I let you use my car.• His job was to phone people who owed money and demand immediate payment.• The phenomenal success of his efforts owed much to his supreme mathematical skills and to his equally superb physical insights.• I owe my parents a lot for everything they've done for me.• "I owe my parents a lot, " he admitted. "They worked real hard to put me through college."• Ivan Capelli drove for the March team for five seasons, but says he's still owed the money in unpaid wages.• How much do we owe you for the milk? owe something to somebody• At that time Uganda owed billions of dollars to the World Bank. I owe you one• After last year, I think I owe them one.
From Longman Business Dictionary
oweowe /əʊoʊ/ verb [transitiveT]FINANCE to have not yet paid someone money you should pay them, or to have not yet paid back money you borrowedShe owes taxes for the past three years.
owe somebody something (for something)He owes the company $2000 for components it supplied.
owe somebody for somethingWe still owe the builder for the work on the roof.