[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/duty/) [dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [D](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/d/) / duty # duty noun (a duty, duties; uncountable "duty" for the idea) «duty» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova. ## Everyday 1. Something you must do because it is right, because it is your job or because the rules or the law say so. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#m1) 2. Work that is part of a job, as in a teacher on playground duty. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#m2) 3. A tax paid on some goods, especially things brought in from another country. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#m3) 4. "On duty" means working right now; "off duty" means not working. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#m4) ### In the lessons In everyday life and at school, children have duties such as feeding the pet, tidying up or being class monitor; a teacher may be on playground duty. In citizenship lessons, people have duties as well as rights, like obeying the law. Police officers, nurses and firefighters work on duty in shifts. In stories, a knight does his duty. Phrases: "on duty", "off duty", "do your duty", "it is my duty to…", "heavy-duty" (very strong), "duty-free" (no tax). ### Examples - Mrs Patel is on playground duty today. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x1) - It is my duty to feed the goldfish. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x2) - The nurse came off duty at seven o'clock. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x3) - Firefighters do their duty bravely. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x4) - My duties as class monitor include handing out books. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x5) - We have a duty to look after the planet. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x6) - This bag is heavy-duty, so it won't tear. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x7) - Dad bought chocolate at the duty-free shop at the airport. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x8) - Youth’s first duty is reverence to parents. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/#x9) ### Note Plural: duties (y → ies). "On duty" (working) is the opposite of "off duty". "Duty" and "job" overlap; "duty" stresses what you ought to do. Do not confuse with "dusty" (covered in dust). A duty roster or rota is a list of who does which job when; in maths problems a rota might repeat every few days. ## In Jewish tradition The duty of a husband's brother means marrying his dead brother's widow to raise children in the brother's name. It can also mean what a day's service requires. **Interpretation.** This is the law of levirate marriage (yibbum), later developed in the Talmud, with the ceremony of chalitzah as a way to be released from it. In Ezra, the "duty of every day" is the set number of offerings for each day at the festival. ### Examples - And Judah said unto Onan: 'Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother.' (Torah GEN.38.8, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/duty/#x1) - And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required; (Writings EZR.3.4, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/duty/#x2) ### Note Plural: duties (y → ies). "On duty" (working) is the opposite of "off duty". "Duty" and "job" overlap; "duty" stresses what you ought to do. Do not confuse with "dusty" (covered in dust). A duty roster or rota is a list of who does which job when; in maths problems a rota might repeat every few days. ## On Mova - [Trees and pragmatics of «duty» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/duty/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«duty» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/duty.html) on Mova free. - [Trees and pragmatics of «duty» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/duty/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«duty» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/duty.html) on Mova free.