duty
Americannoun
PLURAL
duties-
something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.
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the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right; moral or legal obligation.
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an action or task required by a person's position or occupation; function.
the duties of a clergyman.
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the respectful and obedient conduct due a parent, superior, elder, etc.
- Synonyms:
- impost, assessment, task, job, chore, assignment, devoir, charge, burden, obligation, responsibility, commitment, tithe, toll, tariff, levy
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an act or expression of respect.
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a task or chore that a person is expected to perform.
It's your duty to do the dishes.
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Military.
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an assigned task, occupation, or place of service.
He was on radar duty for two years.
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the military service required of a citizen by a country.
After graduation, he began his duty.
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Commerce. a specific or ad valorem tax imposed by law on the import or export of goods.
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a payment, service, etc., imposed and enforceable by law or custom.
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Chiefly British. tax.
income duty.
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Machinery.
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the amount of work done by an engine per unit amount of fuel consumed.
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the measure of effectiveness of any machine.
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Agriculture. the amount of water necessary to provide for the crop in a given area.
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Baby Talk. bowel movement.
idioms
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on duty, at one's post or work; occupied; engaged.
He was suspended from the force for being drunk while on duty.
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do duty, to serve the same function; substitute for.
bookcases that do duty as room dividers.
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off duty, not at one's post or work; at liberty.
They spent their days off duty in hiking and fishing.
noun
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a task or action that a person is bound to perform for moral or legal reasons
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respect or obedience due to a superior, older persons, etc
filial duty
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the force that binds one morally or legally to one's obligations
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a government tax, esp on imports
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the quantity or intensity of work for which a machine is designed
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a measure of the efficiency of a machine
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the quantity of water necessary to irrigate an area of land to grow a particular crop
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a job or service allocated
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( as modifier )
duty rota
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to act as a substitute for
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not at work
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at work
Related Words
Duty, obligation refer to what one feels bound to do. Duty is what one performs, or avoids doing, in fulfillment of the permanent dictates of conscience, piety, right, or law: duty to one's country; one's duty to tell the truth, to raise children properly. An obligation is what one is bound to do to fulfill the dictates of usage, custom, or propriety, and to carry out a particular, specific, and often personal promise or agreement: financial obligations.
Etymology
Origin of duty
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English du(e)te, from Anglo-French duete; due, -ty 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The details rarely matter, but the call of duty always does.
They might even use it to grade essays and provide feedback, zipping through their professorial duties in a fraction of the time.
So I feel I have a respect and a duty to do my research, not just for my character work but for my family.
From Los Angeles Times
In the EU, where packages under €150 are exempt from customs duties and in the U.K., where the threshold is £135, Chinese e-commerce is booming.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association labor union has said it is concerned about the exclusion of thousands of controllers who consistently reported for duty during the shutdown with minimal time off.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
