be indebted to, in an abstract or intellectual sense
<verb.stative> This new theory owes much to Einstein's Relativity Theory
be in debt
<verb.possession> She owes me $200 I still owe for the car The thesis owes much to his adviser
Owe \Owe\ ([=o]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Owed} ([=o]d), ({Ought} ([add]t) obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. {Owing} ([=o]"[i^]ng).] [OE. owen, awen, aghen, to have, own, have (to do), hence, owe, AS. [=a]gan to have; akin to G. eigen, a., own, Icel. eiga to have, Dan. eie, Sw. ["a]ga, Goth. ['a]igan, Skr. [imac][,c]. [root]110. Cf. {Ought}, v., 2d {Own}, {Fraught}.] 1. To possess; to have, as the rightful owner; to own. [Obs.]
Thou dost here usurp The name thou ow'st not. --Shak.
2. To have or possess, as something derived or bestowed; to be obliged to ascribe (something to some source); to be indebted or obliged for; as, he owed his wealth to his father; he owed his victory to his lieutenants. --Milton.
O deem thy fall not owed to man's decree. --Pope.
3. Hence: To have or be under an obigation to restore, pay, or render (something) in return or compensation for something received; to be indebted in the sum of; as, the subject owes allegiance; the fortunate owe assistance to the unfortunate.
The one ought five hundred pence, and the other fifty. --Bible (1551).
A son owes help and honor to his father. --Holyday.
Note: Owe was sometimes followed by an objective clause introduced by the infinitive. ``Ye owen to incline and bow your heart.'' --Chaucer.
4. To have an obligation to (some one) on account of something done or received; to be indebted to; as, to owe the grocer for supplies, or a laborer for services.
Memel Jacobs is said by other sources to owe about $8 million to banks and other creditors.
"I owe him many things," said the Swedish botanist Peter Kahn about fellow botanist John Bartram, "for he possessed the great quality of communicating everything he knew."
That fear may owe something to Sandinista campaign strategy of linking the guard to U.S.-supported Contra guerrillas and the opposition coalition.
Nor do Republicans owe their gains to President Reagan's enormous popularity in the region or to a realigning issue.
And I believe we owe him the opportunity to do just that," he said.
"Everybody's been so supportive _ even strangers, people who don't know the family," he said. "I owe a debt I probably will never be able to repay." Heimdal arrived at Miami International Airport with his mother, Marge.
But it is thanks to his talent for solitariness and to his monomaniacal determination to paddle between this island and that in a collapsible kayak that we owe many of the bonuses of this remarkable adventure. A kayak, yes.
Certainly if any of them did know, they owe it to the president and the presidency to leave now.
As the leader of the effort to maintain freedom's defense, we owe ourselves a closer look at Chamberlain's valuable lessons.
Hence the annual exercise known on Wall Street as "tax selling," in which investors juggle their portfolios to minimize the amounts they will owe the government.
"There is a real knowledge that we owe Texas greatly for this help," Maumont said.
But once the bridge loan is paid off, the company will still owe some $19 billion in various types of debt.
We owe him an enormous debt for this work, and for a lot more.
Perhaps because it claims to owe nothing to Marx, to have learned nothing from Lenin, and to have nothing in common with Stalin, Juche has survived the fall of communism.
I owe nothing to anyone.
Assuming a combined federal and state tax rate of 30%, the charitable-gift deduction will cut their taxes by $1,500. But they'll owe $1,200 in tax on the capital gain.
"So we owe these men a great deal.
He is a former governor of the central bank, and senior officials throughout the finance and banking bureaucracies owe their jobs to him.
It also might owe the CIF money and Robson Rhodes has said it could not release any more funds.
Esrey issued a statement praising Snedaker, that said: "We owe him a great debt of gratitude for putting US Sprint's operations back on track." Even before its latest move, United Telecommunications had gone to great lengths to support US Sprint.
The Internal Revenue Service joined in, declaring that if a gift had been made, VanDeBoe could owe millions of dollars in gift taxes.
"I think black people owe him.
Tax lawyers say this will not only complicate matters for many individual investors but also could mean investors might owe taxes on income they haven't actually received.
A couple filing a joint return with $35,000 taxable income will owe $5,784 for 1989, 3 percent less than the $5,940 liability they would have faced without the inflation adjustment.
The problem is that many of the authorities facing claims aren't the same ones that owe the banks money.
"Well, what do I owe you, Cy?" asks Mr. Lamson, coming to the point.
Filing this form, and your check for what you estimate you owe, by midnight Friday will give you an extra four months to file your return.
Instead of doling out bonuses to executives stationed overseas, on which they would owe taxes, the complaint alleges, Salomon allows its overseas executives to tap bank credit lines for the amount of the bonuses.
These are people who do not owe the state anything.
And that's what I owe the parents and the kids and the spouses.