FreeScrabbleDictionary

owe

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
6
Words With Friends
6
Letters
3
Pronunciation
/əʊ/ (UK)
See all 2 pronunciations
/əʊ/ (UK) · /oʊ/ (US)

Definition of owe

3 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. (ditransitive)To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
    “We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.”
    “I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.”
    “This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour.”
    “VVe owe God a death, and we can but die:”
    “[…] To you, Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love; And from your love I have a warranty To unburden all my plots and purposes How to get clear of all the debts I owe.”
See all 3 definitions

verb

  1. (ditransitive)To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
    “We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.”
    “I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.”
    “This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour.”
    “VVe owe God a death, and we can but die:”
    “[…] To you, Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love; And from your love I have a warranty To unburden all my plots and purposes How to get clear of all the debts I owe.”
  2. (intransitive)To have debt; to be in debt.
  3. (transitive)To have as a cause; used with to.
    “The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought. Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”).

Anagrams of owe

3 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play woe 6 points

Words you can make from owe

6 playable · top: WOE (6 pts)

Best play woe 6 points

2-letter words

5 words

Hooks

5 extensions · 3 front · 2 back

A single letter you can add to owe to make another valid word.

Front

Back

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