"on duty" meaning in English

See on duty in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Forms: on-duty [alternative]
  1. Actively engaged in an assigned task, duty or occupation. Related terms: on call Translations (actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation): հերթապահ (hertʻapah) (Armenian), дежурен (dežuren) (Bulgarian), ve službě (Czech), på arbejde (Danish), i tjeneste (Danish), have vagt (Danish), de service (French), in Dienst (German), Dienst haben (english: to be on duty) (German), ügyeletes (Hungarian), szolgálatban (van/lévő) (Hungarian), … műszakban (van/lévő) (Hungarian), munka közben (Hungarian), ar dualgas (Irish), на служби (na službi) (Pannonian Rusyn), na służbie (Polish), dyżurny (Polish), la datorie (Romanian), на дежурстве (na dežurstve) (Russian), при исполнении (pri ispolnenii) (Russian), dežuran (Serbo-Croatian), de guardia (Spanish), de turno (Spanish), de servicio (Spanish), i tjänst (Swedish)

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "on-duty",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "off duty"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Armenian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Danish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Irish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Pannonian Rusyn translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Romanian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              26
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I'm supposed to go on duty at 0800 hours.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              21,
              28
            ]
          ],
          "text": "He was seen drinking on duty.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              19
            ]
          ],
          "text": "She will be on duty from noon to six.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Actively engaged in an assigned task, duty or occupation."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_duty-en-prep_phrase-VuqDwqJT",
      "links": [
        [
          "engage",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "assigned",
          "assigned"
        ],
        [
          "task",
          "task"
        ],
        [
          "duty",
          "duty"
        ],
        [
          "occupation",
          "occupation"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "on call"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "lang_code": "hy",
          "roman": "hertʻapah",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "հերթապահ"
        },
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "lang_code": "bg",
          "roman": "dežuren",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "дежурен"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "lang_code": "cs",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "ve službě"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "lang_code": "da",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "på arbejde"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "lang_code": "da",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "i tjeneste"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "lang_code": "da",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "have vagt"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "de service"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "in Dienst"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "english": "to be on duty",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "translation": "to be on duty",
          "word": "Dienst haben"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "ügyeletes"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "szolgálatban (van/lévő)"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "… műszakban (van/lévő)"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "munka közben"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "lang_code": "ga",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "ar dualgas"
        },
        {
          "code": "rsk",
          "lang": "Pannonian Rusyn",
          "lang_code": "rsk",
          "roman": "na službi",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "на служби"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "na służbie"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "dyżurny"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "la datorie"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "na dežurstve",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "на дежурстве"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "pri ispolnenii",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "при исполнении"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "lang_code": "sh",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "dežuran"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "de guardia"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "de turno"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "de servicio"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "lang_code": "sv",
          "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
          "word": "i tjänst"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "on duty"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "on-duty",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "on call"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "off duty"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Armenian translations",
        "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
        "Terms with Czech translations",
        "Terms with Danish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Irish translations",
        "Terms with Pannonian Rusyn translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Romanian translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              26
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I'm supposed to go on duty at 0800 hours.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              21,
              28
            ]
          ],
          "text": "He was seen drinking on duty.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              19
            ]
          ],
          "text": "She will be on duty from noon to six.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Actively engaged in an assigned task, duty or occupation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "engage",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "assigned",
          "assigned"
        ],
        [
          "task",
          "task"
        ],
        [
          "duty",
          "duty"
        ],
        [
          "occupation",
          "occupation"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "lang_code": "hy",
      "roman": "hertʻapah",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "հերթապահ"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "lang_code": "bg",
      "roman": "dežuren",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "дежурен"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "ve službě"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "lang_code": "da",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "på arbejde"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "lang_code": "da",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "i tjeneste"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "lang_code": "da",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "have vagt"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "de service"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "in Dienst"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "english": "to be on duty",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "translation": "to be on duty",
      "word": "Dienst haben"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "ügyeletes"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "szolgálatban (van/lévő)"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "… műszakban (van/lévő)"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "munka közben"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "lang_code": "ga",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "ar dualgas"
    },
    {
      "code": "rsk",
      "lang": "Pannonian Rusyn",
      "lang_code": "rsk",
      "roman": "na službi",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "на служби"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "na służbie"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "dyżurny"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "lang_code": "ro",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "la datorie"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "na dežurstve",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "на дежурстве"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "pri ispolnenii",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "при исполнении"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "lang_code": "sh",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "dežuran"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "de guardia"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "de turno"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "de servicio"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "actively engaged in an assigned task, duty, or occupation",
      "word": "i tjänst"
    }
  ],
  "word": "on duty"
}

Download raw JSONL data for on duty meaning in English (5.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.