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obligations

[ob-li-gey-shuhn]

noun

something by which a person is bound or obliged to do certain things, and which arises out of a sense of duty or results from custom, law, etc.

something that is done or is to be done for such reasons: to fulfill one's obligations.

a binding promise, contract, sense of duty, etc.

the act of binding or obliging oneself by a promise, contract, etc.

Law.

an agreement enforceable by law, originally applied to promises under seal.

a document containing such an agreement.

a bond containing a penalty, with a condition annexed for payment of money, performance of covenants, etc.

EXPAND

any bond, note, bill, certificate, or the like, as of a government or a corporation, serving as evidence of indebtedness.

an indebtedness or amount of indebtedness.

a favor, service, or benefit for which gratitude is due.

a debt of gratitude: He felt an obligation to his teacher.

10.

the state of being under a debt, as of gratitude, for a favor, service, or benefit.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English obligacioun < Old French obligation < Latin obligātiōn- (stem of obligātiō) a binding, equivalent to obligāt(us) bound (see obligate) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

pre·ob·li·ga·tion, noun

re·ob·li·ga·tion, noun

su·per·ob·li·ga·tion, noun

Synonyms
1. responsibility. See duty. 5. contract, covenant.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Obligations is always a great word to know.

So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

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Example Sentences

Its obligations rose even more rapidly than consumers'.

Others declined because of the rigors of the job and/or their current obligations.

The growth in cross-border financial obligations has not been matched by a cross border system of enforcement.

EXPAND

Its obligations rose even more rapidly than consumers'.

Others declined because of the rigors of the job and/or their current obligations.

The growth in cross-border financial obligations has not been matched by a cross border system of enforcement.

Long work hours and constant, often competing, obligations drive us.

International treaty obligations can usually override existing court decisions.

Conger admits there were times that he put off family obligations in order to pursue his pinball and work on his apple orchards.

It also defaulted on its domestic debt obligations then, too.

When you add these obligations in, several states appear doomed.

But the agreements were vague, relying more on good will than on concrete obligations.

Often they managed this task only by sharply curtailing their own professional obligations and personal interests.

They shun society's complex web of social obligations and loyalties.

At issue are the obligations that television license owners have to the communities in which they operate.

The obligations of the trainee are clearly set forth.

Escaping their domestic obligations will not be easy, either.

Pratham workers also negotiate with factory owners to release children from employment obligations.

Here's a shorter version of my question about the scientist's obligations here:.

We don't consider it censorship, but meeting the company's legal obligations to provide a non-threatening workplace environment.

Almost half of the states may have to choose in the years ahead between their pension obligations and other public programs.

Some in the discipline fear that proposed changes will water down researchers' obligations to the people they study.

Then, there were no collateralised-debt obligations or credit-default swaps.

She had defied her father when he shouted at her that the family's honor depended on her fulfilling her wifely obligations.

Illinois faces huge fiscal crises, particularly regarding pension obligations.

It has no effect on their role obligations toward you.

The share of income devoted to servicing those obligations also jumped.

Russia said it would suspend its obligations under a cold war-era arms control treaty over a missile shield plan.

Those obligations can keep faculty members from talking to one another, much less to their colleagues in other departments.

Rules on the division of property and future financial obligations vary hugely too.

Relatively few constant proportion debt obligations were issued before credit markets began freezing up last summer.

Do make sure that your employer has a good record of fulfilling their contractual obligations.

But job cuts and online obligations mean journalists are also more desperate for copy, making them a softer touch.

The students tend to be quite progressive, though with a certain groundedness given their work obligations.

Presidents acquire obligations to people who spend years toiling for them in the wilderness.

All of the rating agencies awarded triple-A grades to the collateralized debt obligations now seen as toxic.

Anglo-Saxon companies have often willingly taken on social obligations without the prompting of government.

Then there are the various statutory obligations which cannot be gainsaid.

But in the past week doubts grew over its ability to meet its obligations.

Her own professional obligations often took precedence over campus social events.

The campaign-finance system puts too many politicians under obligations to big-business donors:.

They know that any more long term obligations are something they cannot sustain.

These bond issuers would rather swap their fixed-rate obligations for floating-rate ones.

It would, in effect, partially default not on its debts but on its obligations to society.

And as the state's population has been growing, so have its obligations.

So a company shut out of one market could suffer a devastating knock-on effect as successive obligations came due.

Democracy needs a balance between rights and obligations.

If you dont comply with the obligations you loose some of the rights.

COLLAPSE

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

obligation

c.1300, from O.Fr. obligation (1235), from L. obligationem (nom. obligatio) "an engaging or pledging," lit. "a binding" (but rarely used in this sense), noun of action from obligare (see oblige). The notion is of binding with promises or by law or duty.

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"Saying "I love you" makes a demand, but creates no obligations."

-Mason Cooley

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