Library / English Dictionary

FULFIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: fulfilled    , fulfilling   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill, satisfy or meet a want or need or condtion ro restriction

Example:

meet a need

Synonyms:

conform to; fill; fit; fulfil; fulfill; meet; satisfy

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "fulfil" is one way to...):

cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fulfil"):

answer (be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of)

appease; quell; stay (overcome or allay)

content (satisfy in a limited way)

feed on; feed upon (be sustained by)

allay; assuage; quench; slake (satisfy (thirst))

fill the bill; fit the bill (be what is needed or be good enough for what is required)

fulfil; fulfill; live up to; satisfy (meet the requirements or expectations of)

accommodate; fit; suit (be agreeable or acceptable to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fulfilment (a feeling of satisfaction at having achieved your desires)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put in effect

Example:

He actioned the operation

Synonyms:

accomplish; action; carry out; carry through; execute; fulfil; fulfill

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "fulfil" is one way to...):

complete; finish (come or bring to a finish or an end)

effect; effectuate; set up (produce)

Verb group:

carry out; follow out; follow through; follow up; go through with; implement; put through (pursue to a conclusion or bring to a successful issue)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fulfil"):

get over (to bring (a necessary but unpleasant task) to an end)

run (carry out)

consummate (make perfect; bring to perfection)

consummate (fulfill sexually)

do; perform (get (something) done)

complete; discharge; dispatch (complete or carry out)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fulfilment (the act of consummating something (a desire or promise etc))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Meet the requirements or expectations of

Synonyms:

fulfil; fulfill; live up to; satisfy

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "fulfil" is one way to...):

conform to; fill; fit; fulfil; fulfill; meet; satisfy (fill, satisfy or meet a want or need or condtion ro restriction)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fulfil"):

answer; do; serve; suffice (be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity)

cover (provide for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

fulfilment (the act of consummating something (a desire or promise etc))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Coming as he did from such a purport fulfilled as had taken him away, he would have expected anything rather than a look of satisfaction, and words of simple, pleasant meaning.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I dared commit no fault: I strove to fulfil every duty; and I was termed naughty and tiresome, sullen and sneaking, from morning to noon, and from noon to night.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Now was the time when her son-in-law's promise to his father might with particular propriety be fulfilled.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Patients in whom some, but not all, the criteria for partial response are fulfilled are classified as minimal response (MR), provided the remaining criteria satisfy the requirements for minimal response.

(Minimal Response of Multiple Myeloma, NCI Thesaurus)

Night after night, I record predictions that never come to pass, professions that are never fulfilled, explanations that are only meant to mystify.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

So exquisite was the pang of love and desire fulfilled that she uttered a low moan, relaxed her hands, and lay half-swooning in his arms.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was late when my friend returned, and I could see, by a glance at his haggard and anxious face, that the high hopes with which he had started had not been fulfilled.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To use an Americanism, he had "taken no chances," and the absolute accuracy with which his instructions were fulfilled, was simply the logical result of his care.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The Tilneys called for her at the appointed time; and no new difficulty arising, no sudden recollection, no unexpected summons, no impertinent intrusion to disconcert their measures, my heroine was most unnaturally able to fulfil her engagement, though it was made with the hero himself.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

“Alas! lady,” Alleyne answered, I know well the great honor that you have done me in deeming me worthy to wait upon so renowned a knight, yet I am so conscious of my own weakness that I scarce dare incur duties which I might be so ill-fitted to fulfil.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)