Library / English Dictionary

OBLIGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted

Example:

I'll hold you by your promise

Synonyms:

bind; hold; obligate; oblige

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

relate (have or establish a relationship to)

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

pledge (bind or secure by a pledge)

article (bind by a contract; especially for a training period)

indent; indenture (bind by or as if by indentures, as of an apprentice or servant)

tie down (restrain from independence by an obligation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

obligation (a legal agreement specifying a payment or action and the penalty for failure to comply)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide a service or favor for someone

Example:

We had to oblige him

Synonyms:

accommodate; oblige

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

abide by; comply; follow (act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

disoblige (ignore someone's wishes)

Derivation:

obligation (a personal relation in which one is indebted for a service or favor)

obliger (someone who performs a service or does a favor)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Force somebody to do something

Example:

We compel all students to fill out this form

Synonyms:

compel; obligate; oblige

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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

cause; get; have; induce; make; stimulate (cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner)

Cause:

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

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

force; thrust (impose urgently, importunately, or inexorably)

walk (make walk)

coerce; force; hale; pressure; squeeze (to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means)

clamor (compel someone to do something by insistent clamoring)

condemn (compel or force into a particular state or activity)

shame (compel through a sense of shame)

apply; enforce; implement (ensure observance of laws and rules)

constrain; enforce; impose (compel to behave in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They oblige him to write the letter

Derivation:

obligation (the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I was obliged to confess—I felt ashamed, even of being at this disadvantage before Littimer—that Miss Mowcher and I were wholly unacquainted.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"On my honour, I am much obliged to you," was the reply.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Going? well, I'm much obliged to you, and I hope you'll come again.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

She was sure of a pleasant reception; and her friend seemed this morning particularly obliged to her for coming, seemed hardly to have expected her, though it had been an appointment.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Just oblige me with that torch again, will you?

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The agent was obliged to me for my warning, but told me that the rent had been paid in advance.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Words were insufficient for the elevation of his feelings; and he was obliged to walk about the room, while Elizabeth tried to unite civility and truth in a few short sentences.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

But Mrs. Smith must be obliged;—and her business will not detain you from us long I hope.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

‘Do you consider,’ said his companion to him, ‘that you will be obliged to pay three months’ rent and to lose the produce of your garden?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I should be vastly obliged to you, Craven, if you will undertake the duties.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)