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on duty

 - 7 dictionary results

du⋅ty

  [doo-tee, dyoo-]
Use on duty in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ties.
1. something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.
2. the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right; moral or legal obligation.
3. an action or task required by a person's position or occupation; function: the duties of a clergyman.
4. the respectful and obedient conduct due a parent, superior, elder, etc.
5. an act or expression of respect.
6. a task or chore that a person is expected to perform: It's your duty to do the dishes.
7. Military.
a. an assigned task, occupation, or place of service: He was on radar duty for two years.
b. the military service required of a citizen by a country: After graduation, he began his duty.
8. Commerce. a specific or ad valorem tax imposed by law on the import or export of goods.
9. a payment, service, etc., imposed and enforceable by law or custom.
10. Chiefly British. tax: income duty.
11. Machinery.
a. the amount of work done by an engine per unit amount of fuel consumed.
b. the measure of effectiveness of any machine.
12. Agriculture. the amount of water necessary to provide for the crop in a given area.
13. Baby Talk. bowel movement.
—Idioms
14. do duty, to serve the same function; substitute for: bookcases that do duty as room dividers.
15. off duty, not at one's post or work; at liberty: They spent their days off duty in hiking and fishing.
16. on duty, at one's post or work; occupied; engaged: He was suspended from the force for being drunk while on duty.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME du(e)te < AF duete. See due, -ty 2

Synonyms:
1. Duty, obligation refer to what one feels bound to do. Duty is what one performs, or avoids doing, in fulfillment of the permanent dictates of conscience, piety, right, or law: duty to one's country; one's duty to tell the truth, to raise children properly. An obligation is what one is bound to do to fulfill the dictates of usage, custom, or propriety, and to carry out a particular, specific, and often personal promise or agreement: financial obligations. 3. responsibility, business. 4. deference.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To on duty
du·ty   (dōō'tē, dyōō'-)   
n.   pl. du·ties

  1. An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion: Do your duty to your country.

    1. Moral obligation: acting out of duty.

    2. The compulsion felt to meet such obligation.

    3. The work performed by a machine under specified conditions.

    4. A measure of efficiency expressed as the amount of work done per unit of energy used.

  3. A service, function, or task assigned to one, especially in the armed forces: hazardous duty.

  4. Function or work; service: jury duty. See Synonyms at function.

  5. A tax charged by a government, especially on imports.

    1. The work performed by a machine under specified conditions.

    2. A measure of efficiency expressed as the amount of work done per unit of energy used.

  7. The total volume of water required to irrigate a given area in order to cultivate a specific crop until harvest.


[Middle English duete, from Anglo-Norman, from due, variant of Old French deu, due; see due.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

duty

A tax charged by a government, especially on an import.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

duty 
1297, from Anglo-Fr. duete, from O.Fr. deu "due, owed," from V.L. *debutus, from L. debitus, pp. of debere "to owe." The sense of "tax or fee in imports, exports, etc." is from 1474; duty-free as a noun is attested from 1958.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

duty

See tariff.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: du·ty
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural du·ties
Etymology: Anglo-French deuté indebtedness, obligation, from deu owing, due, from Old French —see DUE
1 : tasks, service, or functions that arise from one's position duties>; also : a period of being on duty —see also JURY DUTY
2 : an obligation assumed (as by contract) or imposed by law to conduct oneself in conformance with a certain standard or to act in a particular way <duty of good faith> duty to warn of danger> —see also PUBLIC DUTY DOCTRINE, SPECIAL DUTY DOCTRINE
duty of can·dor
/-'kan-d&r/
: a duty obligating directors of a corporation to disclose all material facts known to them about a transaction when they are seeking shareholder approval
duty of care
: a duty to use due care toward others in order to protect them from unnecessary risk of harm
duty of fair representation
: a duty obligating a labor union to represent the employees in its collective bargaining unit fairly and in good faith
duty of loy·al·ty
: a duty obligating directors of a corporation to refrain from using their positions to further their own interests rather than the interests of the shareholders (as by self-dealing or fraud)
fiduciary duty
: a duty obligating a fiduciary (as an agent or trustee) to act with loyalty and honesty and in a manner consistent with the best interests of the beneficiary of the fiduciary relationship (as a principal or trust beneficiary)
3 : TAX; especially : a tax on imports—off duty : not engaged in a duty off duty>—on duty : engaged in a duty
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

on duty

At one's post, at work, as in The new nurse was on duty that evening, or The watchman was fired because he was drunk on duty. [Mid-1600s] The antonym, off duty, means "not engaged in one's work," as in Captain Smith was much more amiable when he was off duty. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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