ought
(redirected from oughts)ought
should; duty or obligation: You ought to go to the memorial service.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
ought 1
(ôt)aux.v.
1. Used to indicate obligation or duty: You ought to work harder than that.
2. Used to indicate advisability or prudence: You ought to wear a raincoat.
3. Used to indicate desirability: You ought to have been there; it was great fun.
4. Used to indicate probability or likelihood: She ought to finish by next week.
[Middle English oughten, to be obliged to, from oughte, owned, from Old English āhte, past tense of āgan, to possess; see aik- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: Unlike other auxiliary verbs, ought usually takes to with its accompanying verb: We ought to go. Sometimes the accompanying verb is dropped if the meaning is clear: Should we begin soon? Yes, we ought to. In questions and negative sentences, especially those with contractions, to is also sometimes omitted: Oughtn't we be going soon? This omission of to, however, is not common in written English. Like must and auxiliary need, ought to does not change to show past tense: He said we ought to get moving along. · Usages such as He hadn't ought to come and She shouldn't ought to say that are common in many varieties of American English. They should be avoided in written English, however, in favor of the standard ought not to.
ought 2
(ôt)pron. & adv. Chiefly British
Variant of aught1.
ought 3
(ôt)n.
Variant of aught2.
ought 4
(ôt)v. Obsolete
A past participle of owe.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ought
(ɔːt)vb (foll by to; takes an infinitive or implied infinitive)
1. to indicate duty or obligation: you ought to pay your dues.
2. to express prudent expediency: you ought to be more careful with your money.
3. (usually with reference to future time) to express probability or expectation: you ought to finish this work by Friday.
4. to express a desire or wish on the part of the speaker: you ought to come next week.
[Old English āhte, past tense of āgan to owe; related to Gothic aihta]
Usage: In correct English, ought is not used with did or had. I ought not to do it, not I didn't ought to do it; I ought not to have done it, not I hadn't ought to have done it
ought
(ɔːt)pron, adv
a variant spelling of aught1
ought
(ɔːt)n
a less common word for nought1
[C19: mistaken division of a nought as an ought; see nought]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ought1
(ɔt)auxiliary verb.
1. (used to express duty or moral obligation): Every citizen ought to help.
2. (used to express justice, moral rightness, or the like): He ought to be punished.
3. (used to express propriety, appropriateness, etc.): We ought to bring her some flowers.
4. (used to express probability or natural consequence): That ought to be our train now.
n. 5. duty or obligation.
[before 900; Middle English ought, aught, Old English āhte, past tense of āgan to owe]
ought2
(ɔt)n., adv.
ought3
(ɔt)n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
TranslationsSelect a language:
Spanish / Español
ought
1 [ɔːt] MODAL AUX VB1. (moral obligation) → deber
I ought to do it → debería hacerlo, debiera hacerlo
one ought not to do it → no se debiera hacer
I ought to have done it → debiera haberlo hecho
you ought to have warned me → me deberías haber avisado
he ought to have known → debía saberlo
I thought I ought to tell you → me creí en el deber de decírselo
to behave as one ought → comportarse como se debe
I ought to do it → debería hacerlo, debiera hacerlo
one ought not to do it → no se debiera hacer
I ought to have done it → debiera haberlo hecho
you ought to have warned me → me deberías haber avisado
he ought to have known → debía saberlo
I thought I ought to tell you → me creí en el deber de decírselo
to behave as one ought → comportarse como se debe
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
ought
(oːt) – negative short form oughtn't (ˈoːtnt) – verb (usually with to).
2. used to indicate something that one could reasonably expect; should. He ought to have been able to do it.deber
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
ought
→ deber , tenerMultilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
ought
v. deber, deber de + inf.; ser necesario, tener la obligación de + inf;
you ___ to take the medication → debe, debes tomar la medicina.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012