obligeo‧blige /əˈblaɪdʒ/ ●○○ verb formal 
The minister was obliged to report at least once every six months. Circumstances had obliged him to sell the business.feel obliged to do something (=feel that you have a duty to do something) Many parents feel obliged to pay for at least part of the wedding. ► Do not use oblige when you are talking about a person making someone do something they do not want to do. Use force or make: They made me (NOT obliged me to) stay behind after school.GRAMMAR Oblige is often passive in this meaning.RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say that you have to do something rather than are obliged to do something:· He had to sell the business.2[intransitive, transitive] to do something that someone has asked you to do: It’s always a good idea to oblige important clients.happy/glad/ready etc to oblige If you need a ride home, I’d be happy to oblige.3I’d be obliged if spoken formal used to make a polite request: I’d be obliged if you’d treat this matter as strictly confidential.4(I’m) much obliged (to you) spoken old-fashioned used to thank someone very politely
WORD ORIGINoblige
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French obliger, from Latin obligare, from ligare ‘to tie’VERB TABLE
oblige
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | oblige |
| he, she, it | obliges | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | obliged |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have obliged |
| he, she, it | has obliged | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had obliged |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will oblige |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have obliged |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am obliging |
| he, she, it | is obliging | |
| you, we, they | are obliging | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was obliging |
| you, we, they | were obliging | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been obliging |
| he, she, it | has been obliging | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been obliging |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be obliging |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been obliging |
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- Compulsory competitive tendering will oblige local authorities to bring in managers who demonstrate their ability to deliver the best services to tenants.
- Copyholders were obliged to attend meetings of the manor court, and any changes in tenancy were recorded in the court rolls.
- For he was obliged now to concentrate on what he was doing, even if it was next to nothing.
- I shall nevertheless oblige him to dance for his own good.
- It was obliged to exploit its own resources, spiritual as well as material.
- Many grown-up people feel obliged by such considerations to continue to acknowledge the authority of their parents over them.
- Mobutu, of course, obliged, squeezing debt repayments from an impoverished people in his periodic bouts of structural adjustment.
- Under the 1982 Supply of Goods and Services Act, the shop is obliged to clean with reasonable skill and care.
Longman Language Activatorwhen a rule or law forces you to do something
· All competitors must arrive by 10:00 a.m.· All visitors have to sign in at the main reception desk.· I'm not sure what the procedure is -- you might have to make a written complaint.must/have to · I don't want to get rid of the animals, but we have to.
formal to have to do something, because of a legal or professional rule: · Doctors are obliged by law to try to keep their patients alive.· Members of parliament are obliged to declare all their financial interests.
formal to have to do something - used especially in written notices and official documents: · Visitors are required to register their names on arrival.· Under the law the President is required to notify Congress when US troops are likely to be involved in hostilities.· Companies are legally required to keep records of all their financial transactions.
to have to do something because it is the duty of someone in your position to do it, or because you have officially agreed to do it: · Anyone who rents a house is under an obligation to keep it clean and tidy.· Having promised to cut taxes, the government now has an obligation to do so.
something that is compulsory must be done, used, or provided because of a rule or law: · Smoke detectors are compulsory in all new buildings.· Compulsory education (=when all children have to go to school) was introduced in 1870.compulsory for: · Maths and English are compulsory for all students.it is compulsory (for somebody) to do something: · It is now compulsory for anyone claiming state benefit to register with a job centre.
something that is mandatory must be done because of the law: · Drug smuggling carries a mandatory death sentence.mandatory for: · In some countries, wearing helmets is mandatory for all cyclists.
something that is obligatory must be done because of a rule or law, or because it is expected that you will do it: · Evening dress is usual, but not obligatory.obligatory for: · Military service is obligatory for all men between 18 and 27.it is obligatory (for somebody) to do something: · It is now obligatory for all competitors to wear face protectors.
when you feel that you should do something because it would be right · Everyone will be expecting me so I have to go.· I must write and thank her for the lovely flowers she sent me.must/have to · I don't really want to spend Christmas with my family, but I suppose I have to.
to feel that you should do something because other people expect you to do it and will be disappointed or upset if you do not: · I felt obliged to invite all my family, although I didn't really want to.
formal to feel very strongly that you must do something, because it is the right thing to do and people expect you to do it: · No one should feel compelled to take part. It should be voluntary.· I felt compelled to say something in Henry's defence.
formal to feel that it is your moral duty to do something: · I feel impelled to write and tell you how disappointed I am with your newspaper.· Sarah felt impelled to stay at home and look after her parents.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY If you need a ride home, I’d be happy to oblige.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(=feel that you have a duty to do something) Many parents feel obliged to pay for at least part of the wedding.
Many parents feel obliged to pay for at least part of the wedding. If you need a ride home, I’d be happy to oblige.· Hotels are obliged by law to install smoke alarms.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Because of this, the tobacco industry has been legally obliged for some years now to print health warnings on packets.· Local authorities are legally obliged to record unmet needs and disclose details of these.· Building societies are legally obliged to sell repossessed properties at the best possible price.· But that is far from saying that the testator's son is to be legally obliged to carry it out.· But county councils aren't legally obliged to provide facilities for travellers, and they can't use camps for gipsy families.
· Madam Deputy Speaker: I am much obliged to the hon. Gentleman.
NOUN· Compulsory competitive tendering will oblige local authorities to bring in managers who demonstrate their ability to deliver the best services to tenants.· The newly introduced Environmental Protection Act obliges collection authorities to submit recycling plans for their localities.· It has obliged local authorities to sell off council houses and has reduced the importance given to municipal housing.
· Companies are also obliged by law to stop sending mail to you if you ask them.· After the judgment the Government was obliged to alter the law on the right to beat one's children.· The travellers said that as gypsies the council was obliged by law to give them a camp site.· Doctors are obliged by law to keep them alive while there is a chance of recovery.· Gloucestershire County Council was obliged by law to draw up the register.· In 1995, the Great Hural, or parliament, obliged by passing a law reinstituting last names.
· Yet other friends point out that Rawls comes from an old southern family and has a patrician sense of noblesse oblige.· But our noblesse oblige may be doing youths an extreme disservice.
VERB· Many grown-up people feel obliged by such considerations to continue to acknowledge the authority of their parents over them.· The vendors, which depend on the tobacco firm for their livelihood, feel obliged to buy a table.· Oh, and don't ever feel obliged to hide or apologise for your feelings.· Once in the barn, Stewart felt obliged to follow through on the expedition by dramatically expressing undying love for Susan Mary.· One day, perhaps, he would feel thoroughly obliged to drink it.· To get elected, even incumbents feel obliged to run against the government and in favor of cutting their own authority.· Jobs demand nearly all our waking time, and we feel obliged to give it.· Some one who did not feel obliged to follow the letter of the law, or the instructions of the judge.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► I’d be obliged if
1[transitive] if you are obliged to do something, you have to do it because the situation, the law, a duty etc makes it necessaryoblige somebody to do something- Madam Deputy Speaker: I am much obliged to the hon. Gentleman.
The minister was obliged to report at least once every six months. Circumstances had obliged him to sell the business.feel obliged to do something (=feel that you have a duty to do something) Many parents feel obliged to pay for at least part of the wedding. ► Do not use oblige when you are talking about a person making someone do something they do not want to do. Use force or make: They made me (NOT obliged me to) stay behind after school.GRAMMAR Oblige is often passive in this meaning.RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say that you have to do something rather than are obliged to do something:· He had to sell the business.2[intransitive, transitive] to do something that someone has asked you to do: It’s always a good idea to oblige important clients.happy/glad/ready etc to oblige If you need a ride home, I’d be happy to oblige.3I’d be obliged if spoken formal used to make a polite request: I’d be obliged if you’d treat this matter as strictly confidential.4(I’m) much obliged (to you) spoken old-fashioned used to thank someone very politely