public debt
    n 1: the total of the nation's debts: debts of local and state
         and national governments; an indicator of how much public
         spending is financed by borrowing instead of taxation

PUBLIC DEBT. That which is due or owing by the government. 
     2. The constitution of the United States provides, art. 6, s. 1, that 
"all debts contracted or engagements entered into, before the adoption of 
this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this 
constitution, as under the confederation." It has invariably been the policy 
since the Revolution, to do justice to the creditors of the government. The 
public debt has sometimes been swelled to a large amount, and at other times 
it has been reduced to almost nothing.