6 VERB [no passive] If you say that you owe it to someone to do something, you mean that you should do that thing because they deserve it. □ I can't go. I owe it to him to stay. □ You owe it to yourself to get some professional help. □ Of course she would have to send a letter; she owed it to the family.
7 PHRASE You use owing to when you are introducing the reason for something. □ Owing to staff shortages, there was no restaurant car on the train.
owl /aʊ l/ (owls )
1 N‑COUNT An owl is a bird with a flat face, large eyes, and a small sharp beak. Most owls obtain their food by hunting small animals at night.
2 → see also night owl
owl|ish /aʊ l I ʃ/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] An owlish person looks rather like an owl, especially because they wear glasses, and seems to be very serious and clever. □ With his owlish face, it is easy to understand why he was called 'The Professor'.
own ◆◆◆ /oʊ n/ (owns , owning , owned )
1 ADJ You use own to indicate that something belongs to a particular person or thing. □ Helen decided I should have my own shop. □ He could no longer trust his own judgement. □ His office had its own private entrance. ● PRON Own is also a pronoun. □ He saw the Major's face a few inches from his own.
2 ADJ You use own to indicate that something is used by, or is characteristic of, only one person, thing, or group. □ Jennifer insisted on her own room. □ I let her tell me about it in her own way. □ Each nation has its own peculiarities when it comes to doing business. ● PRON Own is also a pronoun. □ This young lady has a sense of style that is very much her own.
3 ADJ You use own to indicate that someone does something without any help from other people. □ They enjoy making their own decisions. □ He'll have to make his own arrangements. ● PRON Own is also a pronoun. □ There's no career structure, you have to create your own.
4 VERB If you own something, it is your property. □ [V n] His father owns a local pub.
5 VERB If you own someone, you completely defeat them in a game, competition, or argument. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n] I just totally owned you.
6 PHRASE If you have something you can call your own , it belongs only to you, rather than being controlled by or shared with someone else. □ I would like a place I could call my own.
7 PHRASE If someone or something comes into their own , they become very successful or start to perform very well because the circumstances are right. □ The goalkeeper came into his own with a series of brilliant saves.
8 PHRASE If you get your own back on someone, you have your revenge on them because of something bad that they have done to you. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ Renshaw reveals 20 bizarre ways in which women have got their own back on former loved ones.
9 PHRASE If you say that someone has a particular thing of their own , you mean that that thing belongs or relates to them, rather than to other people. □ He set out in search of ideas for starting a company of his own.
10 PHRASE If someone or something has a particular quality or characteristic of their own , that quality or characteristic is especially theirs, rather than being shared by other things or people of that type. □ The cries of the seagulls gave this part of the harbour a fascinating character all of its own.
11 PHRASE When you are on your own , you are alone. □ He lives on his own. □ I told him how scared I was of being on my own.
12 PHRASE If you do something on your own , you do it without any help from other people. □ I work best on my own. □ …the jobs your child can do on her own.
13 hold one's own → see hold ➍
▸ own up PHRASAL VERB If you own up to something wrong that you have done, you admit that you did it. □ [V P ] The headmaster is waiting for someone to own up. □ [V P + to ] They fear losing face by owning up to what they have done. COLLOCATIONS own NOUN 4
own + noun : business, company, share, stake; home, house, land, property
own + adverb : collectively, jointly, outright, partly; privately, publicly SYNONYMS own VERB 1
have: Oscar had a new bicycle.
possess: He is said to possess a large fortune.
keep: This mad writer kept a lobster as a pet.
o wn bra nd (own brands ) N‑COUNT Own brands are products which have the trademark or label of the shop which sells them, especially a supermarket chain. They are normally cheaper than other popular brands. [BUSINESS ] □ This range is substantially cheaper than any of the other own brands available. □ …own-brand cola.
-owned /-oʊnd/ COMB -owned combines with nouns, adjectives, and adverbs to form adjectives that indicate who owns something. □ More than 50 state-owned companies have been sold in the last decade. □ …the Japanese-owned Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles.
own|er ◆◆◇ /oʊ nə r / (owners )
1 N‑COUNT The owner of something is the person to whom it belongs. □ [+ of ] The owner of the store was sweeping his floor when I walked in. □ New owners will have to wait until September before moving in.
2 → see also home owner , landowner