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noun sum of money owed ADJ. big, crippling, enormous, high, huge, large, massive, substantial He was burdened with crippling debts. | mounting a company faced with mounting debts | outstanding, unpaid She used her lottery winnings to pay off her outstanding debts. | overdue | bad (= that cannot be repaid) Bad debt has hit the bank's profits this year. | long-term, short-term | overall, total | gross, net | commercial, corporate | external, foreign, international | national, public The country has a national debt of 80% of GNP. | gambling VERB + DEBT be burdened with, have, owe (sb) the substantial debts that the company owed to the bank | incur, run up She ran up huge debts on her credit card. | clear, meet, pay (back/off), repay, settle Without a job, he'll never clear his debts. It'll take months to pay off all your debts. | reduce | tackle The new governments main aim is to tackle the country's massive debt. | default on The firm defaulted on its debt and its assets were seized. | cancel, wipe off/out, write off After a series of meetings, the banks were forced to write off the company's debts. | service (= pay interest on) The fall in exports has left the country unable to service its debts. | reschedule, restructure The company has reached a deal with its major creditors allowing it to restructure its debts. | secure a debt secured on property DEBT + VERB fall due | stand at sth, total sth The national debt stands at $7,000 million. | arise from sth debts arising from bad investments DEBT + NOUN collection, collector | burden PREP. of ~ $80 million of debt PHRASES a burden of debt Faced with a mounting burden of debt, he sold off the company. | payment/repayment/settlement of a debt state of owing money ADJ. serious VERB + DEBT go into, get into, slip into It is easy to get into serious debt with a credit card. | get out of You can get out of debt by strict economizing. PREP. in ~ He was heavily in debt by the time he sought advice. | out of ~ struggling to stay out of debt PHRASES deeply/heavily in debt sth that you owe sb ADJ. great VERB + DEBT owe | acknowledge, recognize PREP. in sb's ~ I am in Ruth's debt for the excellent advice she gave me. | ~ to In the introduction, the author acknowledges her debt to other writers on the subject. PHRASES owe a debt of gratitude to sb We owe a great debt of gratitude to our families for their support.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
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general::
debt
verbs
have debts
• Fortunately, I have no debts.
run up debts
( also amass debts formal ) (= borrow more and more money )
• At that time he was drinking a lot and running up debts.
pay off a debt
(= pay the money back )
• The first thing I'm going to do is pay off my debts.
repay/settle a debt
formal (= pay the money back )
• He was hoping he would soon have enough money to settle his debts.
clear your debts
(= repay all of them )
• It took him three years to clear his bank debts.
service a debt
(= pay the interest on a debt, but not pay it back )
• By then, she was borrowing more money just to service her debts.
write off/cancel a debt
(= say officially that it does not have to be paid )
• The bank finally agreed to write off the debt.
be burdened with/saddled with debts
(= have big debts )
• Many poor countries are saddled with huge debts.
reduce a debt
• The programme aims to reduce the debt of the world's poorest countries.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + debt
big/large
• The debts got bigger and bigger.
huge
(= very big )
• Young people often leave university with huge debts.
unpaid/outstanding
(= not yet paid )
• The average outstanding debt on credit cards in Britain is now over £3,000.
heavy debts
(= big debts )
• The company wanted to reduce its heavy debts.
a bad debt
(= one that is unlikely to be paid back )
• Companies lose millions of pounds each year from having to write off bad debts.
a bank debt
(= one that you owe to a bank )
• The company closed with bank debts of about £350 million.
the national debt
(= the total amount that is owed by the government of a country )
• Their national debt is the third largest in the world.
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