Debt as a broad liability: interpretive rule favors wide recoverability rather than narrow limitation in law The term debt includes liabilities to repay capital sums by way of annuities and liabilities under guarantees, with 'debt charges' construed accordingly; it is a specified sum due under agreement or a fixed obligation to pay. Judicial authority prescribes a broad construction-any liability, whether secured or unsecured and arising in business, that is legally recoverable-favoring a liberal interpretation consistent with the statute's purpose.