due
/djuː
/adjective
1 [predicative] Expected at or planned for at a certain time: the baby’s due in August he is due back soon [with infinitive]: talks are due to adjourn tomorrow...
- The figures for last year, due soon, are expected to show a further increase.
- Also next year the European elections are due with both polls expected to go ahead on the same day, June 10.
- She had reportedly told her husband Kevin that she was expecting a child, due December 12.
Synonyms
expected, required, awaited, anticipated, scheduled for
1.1(Of a payment) required at a certain time: the May instalment was due...
- New technology installed in more than 100,000 vehicles offers drivers a friendly reminder when the car payments are due.
- Please note final payment is due before Thursday, August 15.
- Please note the balance of payments are now due.
Synonyms
owing, owed, to be paid, payable, payable now, payable immediately, receivable immediately;
outstanding, overdue, unpaid, unsettled, undischarged;
North American delinquent, past due
1.2(Of a person) having reached a point where the thing mentioned is required or owed: she was due for a rise...
- Court advocates when someone is due for trial who has been responsible for having a significantly negative impact on a community's quality of life, members of that community attend court.
- Originally, I was not due for parole until 2028.
- The next encounter I had with the razor came about two weeks later, when I went back to the bathroom mirror to inspect my chin and see if I was due for a shave.
1.3(Of a thing) required or owed as a legal or moral obligation: he was only taking back what was due to him you must pay any income tax due...
- Workers cannot secure the liability of wages or holiday pay earned, or, indeed, of redundancy compensation that is due and payable.
- When the company went under, Beggs told the receiver that €3.7 million was due in outstanding debts.
- He has prevaricated over the payment of sums acknowledged to be due, though the sum currently due and payable by way of costs is not alleged to be large.
Synonyms
deserved by, merited by, earned by, warranted by;
appropriate to, fit for, fitting for, suitable for, right for, proper to
archaic meet for
2 [attributive] Of the proper quality or extent: driving without due care and attention...
- ‘The important thing is that the submissions from both bidders are given proper and due consideration,’ he told the House.
- Our message to dog owners is that they must take due and proper care of their pets and of Manchester's environment.
- Any business that treats its customers without due care and consideration is not fulfilling its most important role.
Synonyms
proper, right and proper, correct, rightful, fitting, suitable, appropriate, apt, adequate, sufficient, enough, ample, satisfactory, requisite
formal condign
archaic meet
noun
1 (one's due/dues) One’s right; what is owed to one: he thought it was his due...
- Some say the public gets its due with the program itself.
- Rathbone argued that motherhood was socially valuable and thus compensable, entitled to the respect due such an important profession.
- Sledge gives the common soldier his just due in eloquent prose that explores the emotions and trauma associated with a brutal war and its consequences.
Synonyms
rightful treatment, fair treatment, deserved fate, just punishment;
right, entitlement;
rights, just deserts, deserts
informal comeuppance
archaic recompense
2 (dues) An obligatory payment; a fee: he had paid trade union dues for years...
- These included the payment of salary arrears, the payment of dues of retired employees and outstanding promotions.
- It was conceded that membership required no payment of dues nor any other participation in the affairs of the organization.
- It is time once again for the payment of dues for the Annual Silver Circle draw.
Synonyms
fee, membership fee, subscription, charge, toll, levy;
payment, contribution
adverb
(With reference to a point of the compass) exactly; directly: we’ll head due south again on the same road...
- A few more yards due south of that, hard by the western approach to the Limehouse Link, there's a little park, perhaps an ex-churchyard to go with the ex-rectory.
- Its destination was Christmas Island, an Australian territorial outpost, about 300 nautical miles due south of Sumatra.
- Then the car turns around and travels 40 meters due south in 5.0 seconds.
Synonyms
directly, straight, exactly, precisely, without deviating, undeviatingly, dead, plumb, squarely
Usage
Due to in the sense ‘because of’, as in he had to retire due to an injury, has been condemned as incorrect on the grounds that due is an adjective and should not be used as a preposition; owing to is often recommended as a better alternative. However, the prepositional use, first recorded at the end of the 19th century, is now common in all types of literature and is regarded as part of standard English.
Phrases
due to
give someone their due
in due course
pay one's dues
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'payable'): from Old French deu 'owed', based on Latin debitus 'owed', from debere 'owe'.