Meaning & use
term debt
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablefinancebusiness
Money borrowed for a fixed length of time, with agreed interest and a repayment date.
Grammar: Used with 'a' or in the plural when talking about particular loans: 'a term debt', 'term debts'. It can also be uncountable as a general category: 'They rely on term debt.'
Patterns
- take on term debt
- repay term debt
- term debt of something
- long-term debt
The company raised $50 million in term debt to build the new factory.
Their term debt must be repaid over ten years.
Analysts warned that too much short-term debt could hurt the business.
nouncountablefinancebusiness
A loan or bond that must be paid back within a stated period, seen as one item on a balance sheet.
Grammar: Countable when you mean one particular loan or bond: 'a term debt', 'two term debts'. It often appears in financial reports and lists of liabilities.
Patterns
- issue term debt
- hold term debt
- a term debt maturing in something
The bank issued term debt to fund its expansion.
Each term debt on the balance sheet has its own interest rate.
Investors bought the term debt because it offered a steady return.
Word forms
| plural | term debts |
|---|
Common combinations
- long-term debt
- Long-term debt is repaid after more than a year.
- short-term debt
- Short-term debt must be paid within twelve months.
- raise term debt
- The firm raised term debt to finance the project.
- repay term debt
- They used profits to repay term debt early.
- term debt financing
- Term debt financing suits companies that need steady funds.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loan
- A general word for money lent; 'term debt' is more technical and stresses the fixed repayment period.
- bond
- A bond is a type of term debt sold to investors, but not all term debt is a bond.
- borrowing
- Borrowing is broader and can include overdrafts; term debt usually means a formal loan with a set term.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: term debt or debt? term debt or term loan?
term debt vs debt
Debt is the general amount owed; term debt is a specific kind of debt with a fixed repayment period.
term debt vs term loan
A term loan is a single loan with a fixed term, while term debt can cover several such loans or bonds together.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'term debt' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Term debt means borrowed money for a fixed period, so funding a plant fits. The other options describe situations that have no connection to a loan with a repayment term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “term debt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.