ought
Indicating duty or obligation.<!--
Example
“I ought to vote in the coming election.”
Other meanings
Indicating advisability or prudence.
“You ought to always stand back from the edge of the platform.”
Indicating desirability.
“He ought to read the book; it was very good.”
Example sentences
Word history
From Old English "āgan" (to own, possess).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “ought” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.