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A Writer's Dictionary:

ought not to ... Definition


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ought
auxiliary verb
    1. Used to express: duty or obligation.
      Example: You ought to help if you can
      Thesaurus: should, have to, be required, must.
    2. Used to express: advisability.
      Example: You ought to see a doctor
    3. Used to express: probability or expectation.
      Example: She ought to be here soon
    4. Used to express: shortcoming or failure.
      Example: He ought to have been here hours ago
    5. Used to express: enthusiastic desire on the part of the speaker.
      Example: You really ought to read this book
    6. Used to express: logical consequence.
      Example: The answer ought to be ‘four'
Idiom: ought not to ...
    Used to express moral disapproval.
      Example: You ought not to speak to him like that
Etymology: Anglo-Saxon ahte, past tense of agen to owe.



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