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oblige |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: oblige v 1: force or compel somebody to do something "We compel all students to fill out this form" [syn: {compel}, {obligate}] 2: bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted; "He's held by a contract' "I'll hold you by your promise" [syn: {bind}, {hold}] 3: provide a service or favor for someone "We had to oblige him" [syn: {accommodate}] [ant: {disoblige}]
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