owe 
/ˈoʊ/ verb
owes; owed; ow·ing /ˈoʊ/ verb 1 : to need to pay or repay money to a person, bank, business, etc. [+ obj] ▪ I still owe money on the car. [=I have not yet paid back all the money I borrowed to buy the car] ▪ We owe no income tax. ▪ He owes me $5. ▪ Don't I owe money to you? = Don't I owe you money? ▪ I owe the bank a lot of money. ▪ Additional payments are owed on the mortgage. ▪ How much is owed? = What is the amount owed? ▪ How much do I owe (you) for this? [no obj] ▪ I still owe on the car. 2 [+ obj] a : to need to do or give something to someone who has done something for you or given something to you
▪ I owe you a drink/favor. ▪ I owe you my thanks. ▪ (informal) What do you mean you won't help? You owe me! ▪ She still owes me for all the times I've helped her out. ▪ Thanks for your help. I owe you one. [=I will give you help when you need it]
b — used to say that something should be done for or given to someone ▪ You owe me an explanation. ▪ I owe you an apology. ▪ The senator is owed a degree of respect. [=the senator deserves some respect] ▪ We owe it to the veterans to build a memorial. [=we should build a memorial to honor and thank the veterans] ▪ You owe it to yourself to have fun. [=you deserve to let yourself have fun] ▪ He owes it to himself to travel while he still can. 3 [+ obj] — used to indicate the person or thing that made something possible ▪ She owes her family for her success. [=her family enabled her to become successful] — often + to ▪ I owe my success to my teachers. [=my teachers deserve credit for my success] ▪ She owes her success to hard work. [=she has succeeded because of hard work] ▪ He owes his wealth to his father. ▪ He owes his fame to several movies. [=he is famous because he was in several movies] ▪ His success owes more to luck than skill. [=is more because of luck than skill] ▪ I owe my life to the surgeon's skill. [=the surgeon's skill saved my life] ▪ We owe our understanding of gravity to Newton.
▪ I owe you a drink/favor. ▪ I owe you my thanks. ▪ (informal) What do you mean you won't help? You owe me! ▪ She still owes me for all the times I've helped her out. ▪ Thanks for your help. I owe you one. [=I will give you help when you need it]
b — used to say that something should be done for or given to someone ▪ You owe me an explanation. ▪ I owe you an apology. ▪ The senator is owed a degree of respect. [=the senator deserves some respect] ▪ We owe it to the veterans to build a memorial. [=we should build a memorial to honor and thank the veterans] ▪ You owe it to yourself to have fun. [=you deserve to let yourself have fun] ▪ He owes it to himself to travel while he still can.
owe a debt of gratitude/thanks to someone — see debt
