duty

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English Vietnamese dictionary

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Advanced English dictionary

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+ noun (plural duties)
1 [C, U] something that you feel you have to do because it is your moral or legal responsibility: It is my duty to report it to the police. + Local councillors have a duty to serve the community. + I don't want you to visit me simply out of a sense of duty. + your duties as a parent + to do your duty for your country + I'll have to go I'm afraid-duty calls. + The company owes a duty of care to its customers.
2 [U] the work that is your job: Report for duty at 8 a.m.
See also - NIGHT DUTY
3 (duties) [pl.] tasks that are part of your job: I spend a lot of my time on administrative duties. + Your duties will include setting up a new computer system.
See also - HEAVY-DUTY
4 [C, U] ~ (on sth) a tax that you pay on things that you buy especially those that you bring into a country: customs / excise / import duties + duty on wine and beer
See also - DEATH DUTY, STAMP DUTY
Idioms: on / off duty (of nurses, police officers, etc.) working/not working at a particular time: Who's on duty today? + What time do you go off duty?
See also - OFF-DUTY
more at BOUNDEN, LINE n.

Thesaurus dictionary

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n.

1 responsibility, obligation, burden, onus, devoir, office, work, task, assignment, job, stint, chore, occupation, calling, function, role, part, bit, charge:

Every man is expected to do his duty.

2 respect, deference, loyalty, fealty, fidelity, faithfulness, allegiance:

I think she did it out of a sense of duty to her family.

3 tax, excise, tariff, impost, levy, customs:

You will have to pay duty on that whisky.

Collocation dictionary

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¹ sth that you have to do because it is right or expected

ADJ.

contractual, legal, mandatory, statutory

Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose.

| general, primary

the general duty of the police to preserve the peace

| professional | civic, public

I feel it is my civic duty to vote.

| patriotic | family, filial, parental | ethical, moral

He felt it was his moral duty to help his neighbour.

| absolute, bounden, fundamental, sacred, solemn

I feel it's my bounden duty to try and help her.

VERB + DUTY

have, owe

(law) You have a legal duty to take reasonable care. The railway company owes a duty of care to all its customers.

| carry out, do, fulfil, meet, perform

She put down the phone and went out, her duty done. She felt she had fulfilled her duty by providing him with a son.

| fail in

He had failed in his duty towards his daughter.

| neglect, shirk

I'd be shirking my duty if I didn't warn him.

| assign, charge sb with, impose

It was a duty imposed by her father.

| assume, take on

He took on the duty of maintaining the family home.

DUTY + VERB

call

I wanted to stop and chat, but duty called and I went back to the office.

PREP.

under a/the ~

You are under a statutory duty to keep accurate records.

| ~ of

It's the duty of each and every one of us to do their best for the team. They have a duty of confidentiality.

| ~ to, ~ towards

They have a duty to their parents to work hard.

PHRASES

a breach of duty

It was a clear breach of professional duty.

| do your duty

I suppose we'd better do our duty and report the accident.

| do your duty by sb

You feel that you have to do your duty by your children.

| be duty bound to do sth

An employer is not duty bound to provide a reference when an employee leaves.

| (above and) beyond the call of duty

The time he put in helping new recruits went beyond the call of duty.

| feel it your duty to do sth

I felt it my duty to go to the police.

| in breach of a duty

(formal) It was ruled that the injured man was in breach of his duty by not wearing the safety equipment provided.

| a sense of duty

I did it out of a sense of duty.

² tasks that you do when you are at work

ADJ.

light

When I returned to work after my illness I was put on light duties.

| onerous | day, night

At 10.45 p.m. she reported for night duty.

| beat, escort, guard, point, sentry

Police usually do beat duty in pairs. The traffic lights were not working so there was a policeman on point duty.

| daily, routine | official | administrative, professional, secretarial | domestic, household

My household duties were not particularly onerous.

| military

VERB + DUTY

have

The members of staff each have their own duties.

| carry out, discharge, do, perform

She was unable to carry out her duties because she was too ill.

| come on, go on, report for

Colleagues became suspicious when he failed to report for duty.

| come off, go off

What time do you go off duty?

| neglect, shirk

He was accused of neglecting his professional duties.

| resume, return to

He leaves hospital tomorrow and is expected to resume his duties at the beginning of next month.

| be released from

Her son was released from duty in the army to visit her in hospital.

| be relieved of, be suspended from

When he failed to turn up for training, he was relieved of his duties as captain.

DUTY + NOUN

doctor, nurse, officer, pharmacist

He went to the police station and spoke to the duty officer.

PREP.

off ~

I'm off duty tomorrow night.

| on ~

You're not allowed to drink alcohol on duty.

PHRASES

the execution/performance of your duties

The company is liable if you are injured during the execution of your duty.

³ tax

ADJ.

heavy, high

the heavy duty on cigarettes

| low | customs, excise, export, import

excise duty on spirits

| alcohol, fuel, tobacco, etc.

Tobacco duty is a major source of revenue for the government.

| death

QUANT.

amount

We tried to estimate the amount of duty we would have to pay.

VERB + DUTY

put on, slap on

They are going to put duty on foreign cars.

| take off | increase, put up, raise

They're going to put up the duty on tobacco.

| cut, lower, reduce | pay | avoid, evade

They claim that the wine is for personal use and so evade the duty.

| be liable to

Perfume is liable to import duty.

| carry

Cider carries duty at the lower rate.

| be exempt from

Beer for personal use is exempt from duty.

PREP.

in ~

By changing its supplier, the company saved thousands of pounds in import duty.

| ~ on

You have to pay duty on all electrical goods.

Concise English dictionary

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duties'djuːtɪ
noun
+work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons
+the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
+a government tax on imports or exports