- 1[countable, uncountable] 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 officials 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.
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- 2[uncountable] the work that is your job Report for duty at 8 a.m. see night duty
- 3duties [plural] tasks that are part of your job I spend a lot of my time on administrative duties. Your duties include data entry and record keeping. see heavy-duty Thesaurustask
- duties
- mission
- job
- chore
- task a piece of work that someone has to do, especially a difficult or unpleasant one:Our first task is to set up a communications system.
- duties tasks that are part of your job:Your duties include data entry and record keeping.
- mission an important official job that a person or group of people is given to do, especially when they are sent to another country:They went on a fact-finding mission to learn more about it.
- job a piece of work that someone has to do:I've got various jobs around the house.
- A task may be more difficult than a job and require you to think carefully about how you are going to do it. A job may be something small that is one of several things that you have to do, especially in the home; or a job can be something that takes a long time and is boring and/or needs a lot of patience.
- chore a task that you have to do regularly, especially one that you do in the home and find unpleasant or boring:household chores
- the task/mission/job/chore of (doing) something
- (a) daily/day-to-day task/duties/job/chore
- (a) routine task/duties/mission/job/chore
- a/an easy/difficult task/mission/job/chore
- (a) household/domestic task/duties/job/chore
- to do a task/a job/the chores
- to finish a task/a mission/a job/the chores
- to give somebody a task/their duties/a mission/a job/a chore
- 4[uncountable] (in compounds) a job that you have to do in the place where you live The kids are on bathroom duty tomorrow.
- 5[countable, uncountable] a tax that you pay on things that you buy, especially those that you bring into a country customs/excise/import duties duty on something duty on wine and beer Thesaurustax
- duty
- customs duty/charge
- tariff
- tax money that you have to pay to the government so that it can pay for public services:income tax sales tax tax cuts
- duty a tax that you pay on things that you buy, especially those that you bring into a country:The company has to pay duty on all imported merchandise.
- customs duty/charge tax that is paid when goods are brought in from other countries
- tariff a tax that is paid on goods coming into or going out of a country, often in order to protect industry from cheap imports:A general tariff was imposed on foreign imports.
- (a) tax/duty/tariff on something
- to pay an amount of money in tax/duty/customs duty
- to pay (a) tax/duty/customs duty/tariff/rates
- to collect taxes/duties
- to increase/raise/reduce taxes/duty/tariffs
- to cut taxes/duties
- to impose a tax/duty/tariff
- to put a tax/duty >on>something
Idioms
something that you feel you must do; a responsibility which cannot be ignored He felt it was his bounden duty to tell the police what he knew. We have a bounden duty to respond to this call for help.
to serve or act as a substitute for something else A drinking glass can do duty as a flower vase.
while doing a job A policeman was injured in the line of duty yesterday.
(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 off-duty
Check pronunciation: duty