duty

du·ty  (dt, dy-)

n. 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.

2.

a. 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.

6.

a. 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.

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[Middle English duete, from Anglo-Norman, from due, variant of Old French deu, due; see due.]

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duty

Noun

pl -ties

1. the work performed as part of one's job: it is his duty to supervise the memorial services

2. a obligation to fulfil one's responsibilities: it's my duty as a doctor to keep it confidential

3. a government tax on imports

4. on or off duty at (or not at) work [Anglo-French dueté]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	duty - the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force; "we must instill a sense of duty in our children"; "every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty"- John D.Rockefeller Jr obligation, responsibility job - the responsibility to do something; "it is their job to print the truth" safekeeping, guardianship, keeping - the responsibility of a guardian or keeper; "he left his car in my keeping" social control - control exerted (actively or passively) by group action moral obligation - an obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong; "he did it out of a feeling of moral obligation" noblesse oblige - the obligation of those of high rank to be honorable and generous (often used ironically) burden of proof - the duty of proving a disputed charge civic duty, civic responsibility - the responsibilities of a citizen filial duty - duty of a child to its parents imperative - some duty that is essential and urgent incumbency - a duty that is incumbent upon you legal duty - acts which the law requires be done or forborne line of duty - all that is normally required in some area of responsibility white man's burden - the supposed responsibility of the white race to provide care for their non-white subjects prerequisite, requirement - something that is required in advance; "Latin was a prerequisite for admission" requirement, demand - required activity; "the requirements of his work affected his health"; "there were many demands on his time"
	2.	duty - work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons; "the duties of the job" work - activity directed toward making or doing something; "she checked several points needing further work" chore, job, task - a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee; "estimates of the city's loss on that job ranged as high as a million dollars"; "the job of repairing the engine took several hours"; "the endless task of classifying the samples"; "the farmer's morning chores" role, function, office, part - the actions and activities assigned to or required or expected of a person or group; "the function of a teacher"; "the government must do its part"; "play its role" assignment, duty assignment - a duty that you are assigned to perform (especially in the armed forces); "hazardous duty"
	3.	duty - a government tax on imports or exports; "they signed a treaty to lower duties on trade between their countries" tariff indirect tax - a tax levied on goods or services rather than on persons or organizations customs, customs duty, impost, custom - money collected under a tariff tonnage, tonnage duty, tunnage - a tax imposed on ships that enter the US; based on the tonnage of the ship octroi - a tax on various goods brought into a town revenue tariff - a tariff imposed to raise revenue protective tariff - a tariff imposed to protect domestic firms from import competition import duty - a duty imposed on imports export duty - a duty imposed on exports countervailing duty - a duty imposed to offset subsidies by foreign governments

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duty

noun 1. responsibility, job, task, work, calling, business, service, office, charge, role, function, mission, province, obligation, assignment, pigeon (informal) onus

noun 2. tax, customs, toll, levy, tariff, excise, due, impost >> off duty off work, off, free, on holiday, at leisure >> on duty at work, busy, engaged, on active service

Translations

duty [ˈdjuːtɪ] n → deber m (= tax); derechos mpl de aduana;

(MED) (in hospital) → servicio, guardia;

on duty → de servicio;

(at night etc) → de guardia;

off duty → libre (de servicio);

to make it one's duty to do sth → encargarse de hacer algo sin falta;

to pay duty on sth → pagar los derechos sobre algo

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duty [ˈdjuːtɪ] n → devoir m (= tax); droit m, taxe f;

duties npl → fonctions fpl;

to make it one's duty to do sth → se faire un devoir de faire qch;

to pay duty on sth → payer un droit or une taxe sur qch;

on duty → de service;

(at night etc) → de garde;

off duty → libre, pas de service or de garde

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duty [ˈdjuːtɪ] n → Pflicht f;

(tax) → Zoll m;

duties npl (functions) → Aufgaben pl;

to make it one's duty to do sth → es sich dat zur Pflicht machen, etw zu tun;

to pay duty on sth → Zoll auf etw acc zahlen;

on/off duty → im/nicht im Dienst

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duty [ˈdjuːtɪ] n → dovere m (= tax); dazio, tassa;

duties npl → mansioni fpl;

on duty → di servizio;

(MED) (in hospital) → di guardia;

off duty → libero(a), fuori servizio;

to make it one's duty to do sth → assumersi l'obbligo di fare qc;

to pay duty on sth → pagare il dazio su qc