debtor

noun

debt·or | \ ˈde-tər

Definition of debtor

1 : one guilty of neglect or violation of duty

2 : one who owes a debt

Examples of debtor in a Sentence

The debtor agrees to pay the debt over a three-year period.

Recent Examples on the Web

But despite being in opposing parties, Rubio and Warren teamed up to put forward legislation helping student-loan debtors. — Natalie Kitroeff, BostonGlobe.com, "Bill would protect driving licenses in student loan defaults," 14 June 2018 In return, the Chinese real estate giant asked Jia to step away from the company, claiming that his status as a debtor in China was harming the progress of establishing Faraday Future’s brand and production efforts in China. — Sean O'kane, The Verge, "Federal court freezes Faraday Future CEO’s ownership stake, California mansions," 14 Dec. 2018 And the policy is already working, with one debtor paying a whopping $1 million to avoid passport issues. — Megan Friedman, Town & Country, "Thousands of Americans May Be Blocked From Getting Passports If They Owe Taxes," 6 July 2018 During the financial and debt crises, Germany imposed austerity policies on debtor countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and, especially, Greece. — New York Times, "Germany’s Merkel Seemed to Get a Reprieve Over Migrants. It Didn’t Last.," 1 July 2018 Dunsworth and co-owner David Harbour, of Helena, Montana, are listed as co-debtors with NorthRock on some of its obligations. — Mark Davis, kansascity, "Bankrupted KC financier of payday lenders owed $120 million by Joel Tucker and others," 14 June 2018 Many of the lawsuits are mundane consequences of doing business — actions against gambling debtors at his casinos, employment disputes. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Theresa May says Donald Trump told her to sue the European Union," 15 July 2018 She was reportedly consigned to a debtors prison for several months in 1757. — Laignee Barron, Time, "Today's Google Doodle Celebrates Hannah Glasse, the Julia Child of the 18th Century," 27 Mar. 2018 Essar, which owes creditors $7.6 billion, is one of a dozen large debtors that were ordered into bankruptcy court after India’s central bank received additional powers to speed the process of winding down troubled companies. — Iain Marlow, Bloomberg.com, "India’s Push to Fast-Track Bankruptcies," 26 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'debtor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

9 Jan 2019

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More Definitions for debtor

debtor

noun

Financial Definition of debtor

What It Is

A debtor is a person or entity legally required to provide a payment, service or other benefit to another person or entity (the obligee). Debtors are often also called borrowers or obligors in contracts.

How It Works

Companies that issue bonds are perhaps the most well-known debtors. They must provide their bondholders with set interest and principal payments on specified dates and in some cases must be willing to convert that debt into equity at specified ratios or repay the debt early if certain events occur.

However, a debtor also might be required to perform particular tasks or even refrain from performing certain actions. When a debtor fails to meet its obligations, the debtor is sometimes considered in default.

Why It Matters

Debtors are subject to contractual obligations. As such, if they do not fulfill their obligations, the creditors usually have the right to seek recourse in court. A significant amount of reputational damage can also occur when an entity, especially a public company, fails to meet its obligations. In some cases, even the speculation that a debtor might not fulfill its obligations can cause its stock price to go down and make it very difficult to obtain financing or other help later.

Source: Investing Answers

debtor

noun