Be short, in a way

The answer

OWE

3 letters. See every clue for this answer on the OWE answer page.

Used 8 times across 5 distinct years; most recently in 2019; first recorded in 2010. It appears in 2 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.

Other clues for OWE

Every other clue in this collection answered by OWE, most used first.

• Have debts - used 217 times, most recently in 2026
• Have bills - used 165 times, most recently in 2026
• Be in debt - used 146 times, most recently in 2026
• Be in the red - used 135 times, most recently in 2026
• Need to pay - used 82 times, most recently in 2026
• Be indebted to - used 81 times, most recently in 2025
• Be in arrears - used 65 times, most recently in 2026
• Be beholden to - used 62 times, most recently in 2026
• Be behind - used 56 times, most recently in 2026
• "I ___ you one" - used 53 times, most recently in 2026
• Need to repay - used 42 times, most recently in 2026
• See red? - used 39 times, most recently in 2024
• Have bills to pay - used 37 times, most recently in 2026
• Carry a balance - used 36 times, most recently in 2026
• Be shy - used 35 times, most recently in 2026
• Be in debt to - used 33 times, most recently in 2026
• Be short - used 33 times, most recently in 2025
• Have a tab - used 32 times, most recently in 2024
• Part of IOU - used 32 times, most recently in 2025
• Be indebted - used 30 times, most recently in 2026
• Come up short - used 30 times, most recently in 2025
• Be in the hole - used 29 times, most recently in 2025
• Be obligated to - used 23 times, most recently in 2025
• Be in hock - used 22 times, most recently in 2020
• Have unpaid bills - used 22 times, most recently in 2024
• Run up a tab - used 22 times, most recently in 2021
• Get behind - used 21 times, most recently in 2026
• Have markers out - used 21 times, most recently in 2019
• Have creditors - used 19 times, most recently in 2022
• Be obliged to - used 18 times, most recently in 2024
• Have to pay - used 18 times, most recently in 2025
• Part of i.o.u. - used 18 times, most recently in 2020
• Run a tab - used 18 times, most recently in 2025
• Be obligated - used 17 times, most recently in 2015
• Be obliged - used 17 times, most recently in 2017
• Have to pay back - used 17 times, most recently in 2026
• Be outstanding? - used 16 times, most recently in 2026
• Have a payment due - used 16 times, most recently in 2025
• Have obligations - used 16 times, most recently in 2026
• Have to repay - used 14 times, most recently in 2025
• Have yet to pay - used 14 times, most recently in 2025
• Be behind on bills - used 13 times, most recently in 2026
• Fall behind - used 13 times, most recently in 2025
• Have a debt - used 13 times, most recently in 2026
• Have chits out - used 13 times, most recently in 2019
• Run a tab, say - used 13 times, most recently in 2026
• "You ___ it to yourself" - used 12 times, most recently in 2025
• Have debt - used 11 times, most recently in 2026
• "To what do I ___..." - used 11 times, most recently in 2022
• "To what do I ___ the pleasure?" - used 11 times, most recently in 2026
• What borrowers do - used 11 times, most recently in 2026
• Have bills due - used 10 times, most recently in 2026
• "I ___ you big-time" - used 10 times, most recently in 2026
• Be behind, in a way - used 9 times, most recently in 2026
• Need to pay back - used 9 times, most recently in 2024
• Must pay - used 8 times, most recently in 2025
• Need to reimburse - used 8 times, most recently in 2016
• The "O" in IOU - used 8 times, most recently in 2026
• "You ___ me!" - used 8 times, most recently in 2025
• Have a mortgage, say - used 7 times, most recently in 2023
• Have debts to pay - used 7 times, most recently in 2026
• Run a deficit - used 7 times, most recently in 2011
• "You ___ me one" - used 7 times, most recently in 2020
• Attribute - used 6 times, most recently in 2025
• Be a debtor - used 6 times, most recently in 2021
• Have a balance - used 6 times, most recently in 2013
• Have a mortgage - used 6 times, most recently in 2018
• Have a mortgage, e.g. - used 6 times, most recently in 2025
• IOU component - used 6 times, most recently in 2012
• Verb in IOU - used 6 times, most recently in 2025

Related clues

Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.

• By way of - VIA, used 728 times
• Back muscle, for short - LAT, used 189 times
• Eastern "way" - TAO, used 173 times
• Life story, for short - BIO, used 140 times
• Sixth sense, for short - ESP, used 137 times
• Chest muscle, for short - PEC, used 120 times

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