How to Use owe in a Sentence

owe

verb
  • I still owe on the car.
  • I owe you a drink.
  • I owe the bank a lot of money.
  • I owe you my thanks.
  • We owe no income tax.
  • She still owes me for all the times I've helped her out.
  • Additional payments are owed on the mortgage.
  • The student would owe $350 if the fine wasn’t paid by the end of the year.
    — Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 28 Apr. 2022
  • Once the stock was sold, your son owed taxes on those gains.
    — Liz Weston, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2023
  • There is a plan to transfer that debt to those who don’t owe it.
    — WSJ, 28 Aug. 2022
  • A quarter of adults with health care debt owe more than $5,000.
    — The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 Aug. 2022
  • Baldwin remains free and does not owe bond to the court.
    — Julia Johnson, Washington Examiner, 23 Feb. 2023
  • Others wonder what the past is owed — and for how long.
    — Michael S. Williamson, Washington Post, 17 June 2024
  • In the 2nd Essex, the thin margins could owe to new boundaries.
    — Matt Stout, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Nov. 2022
  • Adams is owed $35.6 million salaries each of the past two seasons.
    — Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
  • The world appears to be both unjust and to owe us something.
    — Chris Schembra, Rolling Stone, 2 Dec. 2022
  • Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes wouldn’t seem to owe an obvious debt to the films of James Cameron.
    — Simon Thompson, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Dec. 2024
  • Moshfegh doesn’t owe us a tidy sermon in the shape of a novel.
    — Jess Bergman, The New Republic, 22 June 2022
  • Taylor is in the final year of his deal and is owed $17 million.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
  • Here's what you're owed if your flight is canceled or delayed by the storm.
    — Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 21 Jan. 2025
  • There are many reasons why you may be owed money and not be aware of it.
    — New York Daily News Special Sections, New York Daily News, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Part of this might owe to the differences between them.
    — Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2022
  • And Bowling Green comes in third, with 212 workers owed back pay.
    — Olivia Evans, The Courier-Journal, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Most were paid off, Ray said, but the building owners still owed roughly $1,700 by the end of April.
    — oregonlive, 16 May 2023
  • The fans played a big part in Everton’s Premier League survival at the end of 2022, and the board owe them one.
    — James Nalton, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Under the terms of the reverse mortgage, the lender has the right to sell the home to satisfy the debt owed on the reverse mortgage.
    — Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin, Chicago Tribune, 1 June 2023
  • The New York Yankees are on the hook for the remainder of the $19 million owed Hicks this season and next.
    — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
  • The end result is that a state does not collect vast sums of tax revenue it was owed.
    — Christopher Kuo, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Larry, who suffered from schizophrenia, owed a hundred dollars to get out on bond.
    — Sarah Stillman, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
  • What Happens Next Taxpayers who believe they may be owed a refund must file a 2021 return by Tuesday to claim it.
    — David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Apr. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'owe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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