due

[doo, dyoo] /du, dyu/

adjective

owed at present; having reached the date for payment:

This bill is due.

owing or owed, irrespective of whether the time of payment has arrived:

This bill is due next month.

owing or observed as a moral or natural right.

rightful; proper; fitting:

due care; in due time.

adequate; sufficient:

a due margin for delay.

under engagement as to time; expected to be ready, be present, or arrive; scheduled:

The plane is due at noon.

noun

something that is due, owed, or naturally belongs to someone.

Usually, dues. a regular fee or charge payable at specific intervals, especially to a group or organization:

membership dues.

adverb

directly or exactly:

a due east course.

10.

Obsolete, duly.

Idioms

11.

due to,

attributable to; ascribable to:
The delay was due to heavy traffic.
because of; owing to:
All planes are grounded due to fog.

12.

give someone his / her due,

to give what justice demands; treat fairly:
Even though he had once cheated me, I tried to give him his due.
to credit a disliked or dishonorable person for something that is likable, honorable, or the like.

13.

pay one's dues, to earn respect, a position, or a right by hard work, sacrifice, or experience:

She's a famous musician now, but she paid her dues with years of practice and performing in small towns.

Origin

1275-1325; Middle English < Anglo-French; Middle French deu, past participle of devoir < Latin dēbēre to owe; see debt

Related forms

dueness, noun

Can be confused

dew, do, due (see synonym study at do; see usage note at the current entry)

Usage note

11. Due to as a prepositional phrase meaning “because of, owing to” has been in use since the 14th century: Due to the sudden rainstorm, the picnic was moved indoors. Some object to this use on the grounds that due is historically an adjective and thus should be used only predicatively in constructions like The delay was due to electrical failure. Despite such objections, due to occurs commonly as a compound preposition and is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.

Pronunciation note

See new.

British Dictionary definitions for pay one's dues

due

/djuː/

adjective

(postpositive) immediately payable

(postpositive) owed as a debt, irrespective of any date for payment

requisite; fitting; proper

(prenominal) adequate or sufficient; enough

(postpositive) expected or appointed to be present or arrive: the train is now due

due to, attributable to or caused by

noun

something that is owed, required, or due

give a person his due, to give or allow a person what is deserved or right

adverb

directly or exactly; straight: a course due west

due

adj.

early 14c., "customary, regular;" mid-14c., "owing, payable," from Old French deu, past participle of devoir "to owe," from Latin debere "to owe" (see debt).

In reference to points of the compass (e.g. due east) it is attested from c.1600, originally nautical, from notion of "fitting, rightful." As an adverb from 1590s; as a noun from early 15c. Prepositional phrase due to (much maligned by grammarians) is from 1897.

Slang definitions & phrases for pay one's dues

pay one's dues

verb phrase

To serve and suffer such that one deserves what good comes to one; Go Through the Mill: We elderly have paid our dues

[1943+; an isolated example is found in 1878]

Idioms and Phrases with pay one's dues

pay one's dues

Earn something through hard work, long experience, or suffering. For example, She'd paid her dues in small-town shows before she finally got a Broadway part. This expression transfers the cost of being a paid-up member in an organization to that of gaining experience in an endeavor. [ Mid-1900s ]

due

In addition to the idiom beginning with

due

also see: