ought

verb

1. (form-of, obsolete, past)simple past of owe

   “There was a certayne lender / which had two detters / the one ought five hondred pence / and the other fifty.”

   “[…]witneſſe Ariſtippus, who being vrged with the affection he ought his children, as proceeding from his loynes, began to ſpeake and ſpit[…].”

2. (auxiliary, dialectal, formal)Indicating duty or obligation.

   “I ought to vote in the coming election.”

3. (auxiliary, dialectal, formal)Indicating advisability or prudence.

   “You ought to always stand back from the edge of the platform.”

   “Do you think we ought to leave now?”

4. (auxiliary, dialectal, formal)Indicating desirability.

   “He ought to read the book; it was very good.”

5. (auxiliary, dialectal, formal)Indicating likelihood or probability.

   “We ought to arrive by noon if we take the motorway, shouldn't we?”

   “My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.”

pron

1. (alt-of, alternative, auxiliary, dialectal, formal)Alternative spelling of aught; anything

   “Is it a small benefit, that I am placed there […] where I see no drunken comessations, no rebellious routs, no violent oppressions, no obscene rejoicings, nor ought else that might either vex or affright my soul?”

adv

1. (alt-of, alternative, auxiliary, dialectal, formal, not-comparable)Alternative spelling of aught; at all, to any degree.

noun

1. (auxiliary, dialectal, formal)A statement of what ought to be the case as contrasted with what is the case.

   “There are value judgments that are not reducible to observable matters of fact, and there are oughts that cannot be construed as hypothetical and, therefore, cannot be converted into statements of fact.”

   “Is there a fallacy involved in deriving an ought from a set of exclusively factual or descriptive premises?”

2. (alt-of, alternative, auxiliary, dialectal, formal)Alternative spelling of aught; cipher, zero, nought.

   “I go back at eight o'clock to-morrow morning, and have got only three—three oughts an ought—three twos six—sixty pound.”