Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
oblige
5 dictionary results for: oblige
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
o·blige       [uh-blahyj] Pronunciation Key verb, o·bliged, o·blig·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1.to require or constrain, as by law, command, conscience, or force of necessity.
2.to bind morally or legally, as by a promise or contract.
3.to place under a debt of gratitude for some benefit, favor, or service: I'm much obliged for the ride.
4.to put (one) in a debt of gratitude, as by a favor or accommodation: Mr. Weems will oblige us with a song.
5.to make (an action, policy, etc.) necessary or obligatory: Your carelessness obliges firmness on my part.
–verb (used without object)
6.to be kindly accommodating: I'll do anything within reason to oblige.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME obligen < OF obligier < L obligāre to bind. See obligate]

—Related forms
o·blig·ed·ly       [uh-blahy-jid-lee] Pronunciation Key, adverb
o·blig·ed·ness, noun
o·blig·er, noun

—Synonyms 1. compel, force. 2. obligate. 4. Oblige, accommodate imply making a gracious and welcome gesture of some kind. Oblige emphasizes the idea of conferring a favor or benefit (and often of taking some trouble to do it): to oblige someone with a loan. Accommodate emphasizes doing a service or furnishing a convenience: to accommodate someone with lodgings and meals.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
o·blige       (ə-blīj')  Pronunciation Key 
v.   o·bliged, o·blig·ing, o·blig·es

v.   tr.
  1. To constrain by physical, legal, social, or moral means.
  2. To make indebted or grateful: I am obliged to you for your gracious hospitality.
  3. To do a service or favor for: They obliged us by arriving early.

v.   intr.
To do a service or favor: The soloist obliged with yet another encore.


[Middle English obligen, from Old French obligier, from Latin obligāre : ob-, to; see ob- + ligāre, to bind; see leig- in Indo-European roots.]

o·blig'er n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to perform a service or a courteous act for: obliged me by keeping the matter quiet; accommodating her by lending her money; favor an audience with an encore. See Also Synonyms at force.
Antonym: disoblige

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
oblige 
1297, "to bind by oath," from O.Fr. obligier, from L. obligare, from ob "to" + ligare "to bind," from PIE base *leig- "to bind" (see ligament). Main modern meaning "to make (someone) indebted by conferring a benefit or kindness" is from 1567; be obliged "be bound by ties of gratitude" is from 1548. Obliging "willing to do service or favors" is attested from 1632.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
oblige

verb
1. force somebody to do something; "We compel all students to fill out this form" [syn: compel] 
2. bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted; "He's held by a contract"; "I'll hold you by your promise" 
3. provide a service or favor for someone; "We had to oblige him" [ant: disoblige] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Oblige

O*blige"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Obliged; p. pr. & vb. n. Obliging.] [OF. obligier, F. obliger, L. obligare; ob (see Ob-) + ligare to bind. See Ligament, and cf. Obligate.]

1. To attach, as by a bond. [Obs.]

He had obliged all the senators and magistrates firmly to himself. --Bacon.

2. To constrain by physical, moral, or legal force; to put under obligation to do or forbear something.

The obliging power of the law is neither founded in, nor to be measured by, the rewards and punishments annexed to it. --South.

Religion obliges men to the practice of those virtues which conduce to the preservation of our health. --Tillotson.

3. To bind by some favor rendered; to place under a debt; hence, to do a favor to; to please; to gratify; to accommodate.

Thus man, by his own strength, to heaven would soar, And would not be obliged to God for more. --Dryden.

The gates before it are brass, and the whole much obliged to Pope Urban VIII. --Evelyn.

I shall be more obliged to you than I can express. --Mrs. E. Montagu.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Share This:Share This: digg.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.google.com