■ adjective
1》 expected at, planned for, or required by a certain time.
↘(of a person) owed or deserving (something).
↘required as a legal or moral obligation.
2》 proper; appropriate.
■ noun
1》 ( one's ~/~s ) one's right.
2》 ( ~s ) fees.
■ adverb (with reference to a point of the compass) directly: head ~ south.
Phrases
~ to
1》 caused by.
2》 because of.
give someone their ~ be fair to someone.
in ~ course at the appropriate time.
pay one's ~s fulfil one's obligations.
Origin
ME: from OFr. deu 'owed', based on L. debitus 'owed', from debere 'owe'.
Usage
Some people regard ~ to in the sense ‘because of’ as incorrect on the grounds that ~ is an adjective and should not be used in a prepositional phrase; owing to is often recommended as a better alternative. However, this use of ~ to is now very common in all types of literature and is regarded as part of standard English.