Definition of "arrear"

She, (Ladie) having well before approoved / The feends to be too cruell and severe, / Observ'd th' appointed way, as her behooved, / Ne ever did her ey-sight turne arere [...].

1591, Edmund Spenser, Virgil's Gnat, ll. 465-8

In case the annuity should be arrear for sixty days being lawfully demanded, then the trustee might enter upon the premises assigned [...].

1803, Edward Hyde East, Reports of cases Argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, volume 3, London, published 1814, page 559

I have a large arrear of letters to write.

November 4, 1866, James David Forbes, letter to E. C. Batten

My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all day to clear off.

1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library

After World War II it took time to clear up the arrears of track maintenance on both lines and it was not until 1953 that the L.M.R. restored any two-hour schedules, the W.R. following suit a year later.

1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 98

I know the debt is in arrears / The dog has not been fed in years / It's even worse than it appears, but / It's alright

1987, Grateful Dead (lyrics and music), “Touch of Grey”, in In the Dark