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/əʊ/ · verb
(ditransitive) To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone..
We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.
I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.
This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour.
VVe owe God a death, and we can but die:
[…] To you, Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love; And from your love I have a warranty To unburden all my plots and purposes How to get clear of all the debts I owe.
He inherited a fair fortune from his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and spent it twice over immediately afterwards.
The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.
Use owe when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Owe means (ditransitive) To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone..
The closest synonym depends on the sentence and intended sense.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.
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