| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| duty |
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| SYLLABICATION: | du·ty |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  d  t , dy- |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. du·ties
1. An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion: Do your duty to your country. 2a. Moral obligation: acting out of duty. b. The compulsion felt to meet such obligation. 3. A service, function, or task assigned to one, especially in the armed forces: hazardous duty. 4. Function or work; service: jury duty. See synonyms at function. 5. A tax charged by a government, especially on imports. 6a. The work performed by a machine under specified conditions. b. A measure of efficiency expressed as the amount of work done per unit of energy used. 7. The total volume of water required to irrigate a given area in order to cultivate a specific crop until harvest. | | IDIOMS: | duty bound Obliged: You are duty bound to help your little sister and brother. off duty Not engaged in or responsible for assigned work. on duty Engaged in or responsible for assigned work. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English duete, from Anglo-Norman, from due, variant of Old French deu, due. See due.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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