debt means you owe money. There is no requirement you get anything in return for taking on that debt. The definition, since you wont look it up, is "Debt is an amount of money, goods, or services that one party (the debtor) owes to another party"

If I commit to buying some future goods, and sign that I will hand over that money, that's debt. It's money I legally owe someone else. Counting that as debt is totally fair, not counting it is shady as fuck.

If I rent a house, I receive no money, in fact I receive no tangible goods at all really. Just the right to occupy a space under some pre-agreed rules. Yet, I now have debt.