ADJ
- big, crippling, enormous, high, huge, large, massive, substantial
- He was burdened with crippling debts
- mounting
- a company faced with mounting debts
- outstanding, unpaid
- She used her lottery winnings to pay off her outstanding debts
- overdue
- bad
- (= that cannot be repaid) Bad debt has hit the bank's profits this year
- long-term, short-term
- overall, total
- gross, net
- commercial, corporate
- external, foreign, international
- national, public
- The country has a national debt of 80% of GNP
- gambling
VERB + DEBT
- be burdened with, have, owe (sb)
- the substantial debts that the company owed to the bank
- incur, run up
- She ran up huge debts on her credit card
- clear, meet, pay (back/off), repay, settle
- Without a job, he'll never clear his debts. It'll take months to pay off all your debts
- reduce
- tackle
- The new governments main aim is to tackle the country's massive debt
- default on
- The firm defaulted on its debt and its assets were seized
- cancel, wipe off/out, write off
- After a series of meetings, the banks were forced to write off the company's debts
- service (= pay interest on)
- The fall in exports has left the country unable to service its debts
- reschedule, restructure
- The company has reached a deal with its major creditors allowing it to restructure its debts
- secure
- a debt secured on property
DEBT + VERB
- fall due
- stand at sth, total sth
- The national debt stands at $7,000 million
- arise from sth
- debts arising from bad investments
DEBT + NOUN
- collection, collector
- burden
PHRASES
- a burden of debt
- Faced with a mounting burden of debt, he sold off the company
- payment/repayment/settlement of a debt
VERB + DEBT
- go into, get into, slip into
- It is easy to get into serious debt with a credit card
- get out of
- You can get out of debt by strict economizing
PREP
- in ~
- He was heavily in debt by the time he sought advice
- out of ~
- struggling to stay out of debt
VERB + DEBT
- owe
- acknowledge, recognize
PREP
- in sb's ~
- I am in Ruth's debt for the excellent advice she gave me
- ~ to
- In the introduction, the author acknowledges her debt to other writers on the subject
PHRASES
- owe a debt of gratitude to sb
- We owe a great debt of gratitude to our families for their support