Word · CEFR B1 · Frequency #1320
debt
债务；欠款
money, goods, or services that one person or entity owes and must pay to another, typically because of a loan or financial transaction
- 1.
An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
对他人有义务的行为、心态或物品
- 2.
the state of owing something (especially money)
欠债的状态(尤指金钱)
- 3.
The state or condition of owing something to another.
欠他人某物的状态或条件
- 4.
money or goods or services owed by one person to another
一人欠另一人的金钱、货物或服务
- 5.
Money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another, generally as a result of a loan or other financial transaction.
个人或实体因贷款或其他金融交易而欠他人的钱
- 6.
an obligation to pay or do something
付款或做某事的义务
- 7.
An action at law to recover a certain specified sum of money alleged to be due
为追回某一特定金额而进行的法律诉讼
负债；欠债；义务；人情债；债务诉讼；索债之诉；对他人有义务的行为、心态或物品；欠债的状态(尤指金钱)
In use
He is trying to pay off his debt as quickly as possible.
The national debt has reached a record high this year.
She borrowed money from friends to cover her debt.
he is badly in debt
be in debt
表示欠债的状态。
He is in debt.
他负债。
pay off a debt
She paid off her debt.
她还清了债务。
owe a debt to sb
表示欠某人或某机构债务。
Connections
Collocations
- in debt
- 负债
- After buying the house, they were deep in debt.买了房子后，他们负债累累。
- pay off debt
- 还清债务
- She worked two jobs to pay off her debt.她打两份工来还清债务。
- national debt
- 国债
- The national debt continues to rise each year.国债每年都在增加。
- bad debt
- 坏账
- The company wrote off $1 million in bad debt.该公司注销了100万美元的坏账。
- debt relief
- 债务减免
- The government program offers debt relief to low-income families.政府项目为低收入家庭提供债务减免。
- accumulate debt
- 累积债务
Learner notes
Memory Tip
记忆：debt 中字母 b 不发音，联想债务像被埋藏（buried）一样无声。
Context & Register
通常用于财务、法律和个人欠款场景，正式和非正式场合都常见，语域中性。
Grammar Note
可数名词指具体债务，不可数名词指负债状态；常与介词 of, to 连用；in debt 为固定短语。
Pronunciation & Spelling
Words that rhyme with debt (bet, set, let) share the same /ɛt/ sound. Be cautious with words like doubt, subtle, and debut which look similar but have different pronunciations.
High-value vocabulary
该词属于 Oxford 核心词汇，值得优先掌握常见搭配和句型。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 4，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.