Definition of "arrears" []

• An unpaid, overdue debt or an unfulfilled obligation. (noun-plural)
• The state of being behind in fulfilling obligations: an account in arrears. (noun-plural)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Of the 1.8 million people with such loans, 400,000 are behind on their payments - with 100,000 in arrears by three months or more."
• "Peter Cargill claimed that the number of indebted countries in arrears regarding payments to the World Bank and/or that were seeking to renegotiate their multilateral debt had risen from three to eighteen between 1974 and 1978!"
• "Pathetic, think that maybe Ensign was in arrears on paying for his Cadillac health plan there?"