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Oblige   Listen
verb
Oblige  v. t.  (past & past part. obliged; pres. part. obliging)  
1.
To attach, as by a bond. (Obs.) "He had obliged all the senators and magistrates firmly to himself."
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." "Religion obliges men to the practice of those virtues which conduce to the preservation of our health."
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." "The gates before it are brass, and the whole much obliged to Pope Urban VIII." "I shall be more obliged to you than I can express."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Oblige" Quotes from Famous Books



... you know I was but one man alone, but by the courage, aid, and comfort of them I took on me to accomplish my vow; and certainly I had been dead in the battle had they not holpen me and endured the brunt of the day. Wherefore, whenas nature and duty did oblige me to consider the love they bear me, I should have showed myself too much ungrateful if I had not rewarded them . . . but whereas I have done this without your licence, I humbly crave pardon. . ...
— Lynton and Lynmouth - A Pageant of Cliff & Moorland • John Presland

... of wood was placed upon the fire in such time that it would be kindled before twelve p.m., and extreme care was taken that the fire should not go out, for not only was it unlucky, but no one would oblige a neighbour, ...
— Folk Lore - Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century • James Napier

... until I have finished all I have to say to you, and if you try to prevent me, I shall raise my voice so that the two servants, who are on the box, may hear. I only allowed you to come with me for that object, for I have these witnesses who will oblige you to listen to me, and to contain yourself; so now, pay attention to what I say. I have always felt an antipathy for you, and I have always let you see it, for I have never lied, Monsieur. You married me in spite of myself; you forced my parents, ...
— The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Volume II (of 8) • Guy de Maupassant

... literature of India appeared to be attainable through no other medium than a knowledge of the Sanscrit; and he therefore applied himself without delay to the acquisition of that language. It was not long before he found that his health would oblige him to some restriction in the intended prosecution of his studies. In a letter written a few days after his arrival in India, he informs one of his friends that "as long as he stays in India, he does not expect to be free from a bad digestion, the morbus literatorum; for which there ...
— Lives of the English Poets - From Johnson to Kirke White, Designed as a Continuation of - Johnson's Lives • Henry Francis Cary

... Basterga replied. "And, after all, the matter is simple. I do not know why I should refuse to oblige you. I have said that I did not discover this remedy. That is so. But it happened that in trying, by way of amusement, certain precipitations, I obtained not that which I sought—nor had I expected," he continued, ...
— The Long Night • Stanley Weyman

... was by nature a simple-hearted, good-humored girl, who loved to be well dressed, well housed, well served, and, above all, to be much petted, especially by such a charming master of the art as was Mr. Fabian. She also loved to oblige her friends. ...
— For Woman's Love • Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

... account of an ignorance which lives very much out of the world. The same reason will plead my excuse for not knowing whether a letter to Her Majesty ought, or ought not, to accompany the book; and for begging your Lordship, after its perusal, to suppress it or otherwise accordingly, in case you can oblige me in the other part of my request. Your Lordship will perceive that the Address prefixed to the poem, not having ventured to ask Her Majesty's permission, does not presume to call itself a dedication; neither does it leave the public under any erroneous impression ...
— The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume 1 (of 3), 1837-1843) • Queen Victoria

... Nos. 157 and 207, states that one hundred and fifty Gypsies were imprisoned charged with this practice; and that the Empress Teresa sent commissioners to inquire into the facts of the accusation, who discovered that they were true; whereupon the empress published a law to oblige all the Gypsies in her dominions to become stationary, which, however, had ...
— The Zincali - An Account of the Gypsies of Spain • George Borrow

... bosom of the deep! If a hornpipe will be acceptable to you at any time (as a reminder of what the three brothers were always doing), I shall be, as the chairman says at Mr. Evans's, "happy to oblige." ...
— The Letters of Charles Dickens - Vol. 1 (of 3), 1833-1856 • Charles Dickens

... willing to oblige, and he began his recital at the time of his first meeting with Joe McCaskey on the beach at Dyea. While he talked the girl listened with that peculiar open- eyed meditative gravity he had noted upon their former meeting. When he had finished ...
— The Winds of Chance • Rex Beach

... was dreadfully grieved at this. She loved the good opinion of her neighbours, and it always gave her pleasure to oblige them; but, in this case, she had been tried beyond endurance. She had little heart now to touch her preserves, and so went off to her chamber and sat down, overcome by ...
— Woman's Trials - or, Tales and Sketches from the Life around Us. • T. S. Arthur

... intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power; but they will never look to anything but power for their relief. When did distress ever oblige a prince to abdicate his authority? And what effect will it have upon those who are made to believe themselves a ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IV. (of 12) • Edmund Burke

... Edinburgh, were also communicated with as to the settlement of their accounts with Murray & Highley. "I expected," he said, "to have been able to pay my respects to you both this summer [1803], but my military duties, and the serious aspect of the times, oblige me to remain at home." It was the time of a patriotic volunteer movement, and Mr. Murray was enrolled as an ensign in the 3rd ...
— A Publisher and His Friends • Samuel Smiles

... youth in aspect fitting perfectly to Samuel's vision; a very prince of the blood, yet genial and free-hearted— noblesse oblige! To him had descended these virtues and excellences— and all the estates and powers as the sign and symbol thereof. And now had come a poor ignorant country boy, and it had fallen to his fortune to save the life of this extraordinary ...
— Samuel the Seeker • Upton Sinclair

... John Parker and Mr. Richard Whittaker for Wardens. It was these persons, if I mistake not, who thought themselves bound, either by sympathy with the horror caused by Milton's doctrine, or by sheer official duty, to oblige Mr. Palmer and his brethren of the Assembly by pointing out that both the editions of Milton's obnoxious pamphlet had been published in evasion of the law. There can be little doubt that the Assembly divines and the London clergy generally were ...
— The Life of John Milton Vol. 3 1643-1649 • David Masson

... time the gentlemen had changed into their jackets, and I sent them flying around for cups and saucers and sugar basins. It turned out that they had only one teaspoon in the place, and when anybody wanted to stir her tea she said, 'Will you oblige me with spoon please?' What fun it was! We laughed until we cried—at least one of us did—and eventually we managed to break the teapot and a slop basin and to overturn a standing lamp. It was ...
— The Christian - A Story • Hall Caine

... to Issue from our mouths and Noses, In a Very Great and plentiful manner, and Tangled their hands in our hair, and knocked our heads Togather with all their Strength and Vehemence, and when they was tired of this Exercise, they would take us by the hair and some by ye Ears, and standing behind us, oblige us to keep our Necks Strong so as to bear their weight hanging ...
— Glimpses of the Past - History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 • W. O. Raymond

... miles. During the afternoon, a still larger lagoon was found, higher up than the first. I resolved to give the cattle a day's rest, and then to proceed prepared, by well watering them previously, to travel on to the Balonne, but not with much expectation that scarcity of water would oblige us to go so far. Thermometer, at sunrise, 34 deg.; at noon, 70 deg.; at 4 P. M., 78 deg.; at 9, 60 deg.;—with wet ...
— Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia • Thomas Mitchell

... more than willing to oblige Mr. Goode's agent; he typed out the letter himself, looked twice at the revolver to make sure of the number, took Rand's word for the make, model, and caliber, signed it, and even slammed his seal down on it. Rand thanked him profusely, put the letter in his pocket, ...
— Murder in the Gunroom • Henry Beam Piper

... light-weights in the running—Sheen, Peteiro, and a boy from Clifton. Sheen drew the bye, and sparred in an outer room with a soldier, who was inclined to take the thing easily. Sheen, with the thought of the final in his mind, was only too ready to oblige him. They sparred an innocuous three rounds, and the man of war was kind enough to whisper in his ear as they left the room that he hoped he would win the final, and that he himself had a matter of one-and-sixpence with Old ...
— The White Feather • P. G. Wodehouse

... nature; hence the great misfortune of not being able to count on his prudence and judgment, seeing how changeable and uncertain he and his advisers are. Moreover, if by ill-luck the present rumours of war oblige the King to arm himself, we may expect some persecution of the Catholics, for money being required, before he can go to war, it will be necessary to assemble Parliament, and the Lower House, composed mainly of Puritans, will grant no supplies ...
— Studies from Court and Cloister • J.M. Stone

... colour, and its force, and makes it look much more smoked than it is; and, lastly and above all, the exigencies of the place prevent the picture from being hung at the proper height, and, against all the laws of the most elementary perspective, oblige you to look at ...
— Great Pictures, As Seen and Described by Famous Writers • Esther Singleton

... of that, but I'm not dealing in horses. I make the offer just to oblige you. Besides, as you ...
— Ben Blair - The Story of a Plainsman • Will Lillibridge

... beautiful. The project of a subterranean railway is attended with great drawbacks, not only as regards the great expense that it would necessitate, but also the difficulties of constructing it. And there is a still graver objection to it, and that is that it would oblige travelers to move like moles in dark, cold, and moist tunnels. At Paris, where we are accustomed to a pleasant climate and clear atmosphere, we like plenty of ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 488, May 9, 1885 • Various

... of my subject will oblige me to treat the English romantic movement as a chapter in literary history, even at the risk of seeming to adopt a narrow method. Yet it would be unphilosophical to consider it as a merely aesthetic affair, and to lose sight ...
— A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century • Henry A. Beers

... B.!" he said. "Then am I to understand that you won't oblige me in this matter, although it is on a point which is of no consequence to you, on your own confession, and, therefore, requiring no sacrifice ...
— Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume VI • Various

... passed an act which shut out all Dissenters from office. This act the king did not venture to reject; although the effect of it was to oblige his brother James, the Duke of York, to resign his office of lord ...
— Outline of Universal History • George Park Fisher

... alone with a tag all right and I could send his things by freight. He ain't got much. You couldn't help but like him and I hate for him to get rough. Please answer and oblige your loving ...
— Christmas - A Story • Zona Gale

... of any troops but Caesar's; but there was still something to be done, and he permitted them not to pursue any other object than their enemies. 4. A considerable body having retired to the adjacent mountains, he prevailed on his soldiers to join him in the pursuit, in order to oblige these to surrender. He began by inclosing them with a line drawn at the foot of the mountain; but they quickly abandoned a post which was untenable for want of water, and endeavoured to reach the city of Laris'sa. ...
— Pinnock's Improved Edition of Dr. Goldsmith's History of Rome • Oliver Goldsmith

... she has done good work for you, and I have a special locket and crest to give her. I 'll take Jasmine to keep you company when we go to the Riviera, and you 'll meet your friend again at Easter. Will you oblige a very old ...
— Hollyhock - A Spirit of Mischief • L. T. Meade

... warning voice of my merciful God was the voice of Satan; I had to believe, in spite of my own conscience and intelligence, that it was good, nay, necessary, to put those polluting, damning questions. My infallible Church was mercilessly forcing me to oblige those poor, trembling, weeping, desolated girls and women to swim with me and all her priests in those waters of Sodom and Gomorrha, under the pretext that their self-will would be broken down, their fear of sin and humility increased, and that they would ...
— The Priest, The Woman And The Confessional • Father Chiniquy

... marriage? No—I confess I am not guilty of so much impudence. For why should the brilliant Sylvie become the Marquise Fontenelle? It would be a most unhappy fate for her, because if there WERE a Marquise Fontenelle, my principles would oblige me to detest her!" ...
— The Master-Christian • Marie Corelli

... slight sniff. "They were only having their breakfast. You may be sure that they didn't catch the flies to oblige you." ...
— The Tale of the The Muley Cow - Slumber-Town Tales • Arthur Scott Bailey

... say that, Ken," replied his father. "Under all the circumstances, I can readily believe that Max would prefer to return to town; but I expressly forbid his hurrying away. Oblige me, Max, by staying with Kenneth till next Thursday, when I shall return. It will ...
— Three Boys - or the Chiefs of the Clan Mackhai • George Manville Fenn

... fort riche, ayant fait tirer son horoscope, mangea, pendant le temps qu'il croyait avoir a vivre, tout ce qu'il avait. Mais ayant ete plus loin que l'astrologue ne l'avait predit, il n'avait plus de quoi se nourrir. Il se vit oblige de demander l'aumone, et il disait en tendant la main: "Assistez un homme qui a ...
— French Conversation and Composition • Harry Vincent Wann

... and I said: 'Ladies and gentlemen,—I am going to reveal to you a secret. Pray don't let it go any further. This is supposed to be a comic entertainment. I don't expect you to laugh at it in the least; but if, during the next sketch, you would only once oblige me with a society smile, it would give me a great deal of encouragement.' The audience for a moment were dumbfounded. They first began to titter, then to laugh, and actually to roar, and for a time I could not proceed with the sketch. ...
— The Idler, Volume III., Issue XIII., February 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly. Edited By Jerome K. Jerome & Robert Barr • Various

... she had never known before, and she was quite hurt at Noemi's manner to her brother. She was very cool with him, and treated him with a shade of disdain which bordered on contempt. Henri was always polite, attentive, and ready to oblige, but nothing more. In all the scenes in which he and Noemi acted together he was so reserved, so correct, and indeed so circumspect, that Renee, who feared that the coldness of his acting would spoil the play, joked him ...
— Rene Mauperin • Edmond de Goncourt and Jules de Goncourt

... strike his neighboring Spaniard; and then, with the increase of their fury, to behead all those who were sleeping. More than sixty had embarked on the flagship, among them the servants of the governor, and others, old soldiers, who in order to oblige and accommodate him were enduring discomfort. They had been gambling all the night; and being tired, and because of the excessive heat, were sleeping naked, some in the midship gangway, others on the benches, while the more favored ones, to whom were given better quarters, slept aft. The governor ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XVI, 1609 • H.E. Blair

... notwithstanding all the art and curiosity of workmanship these windows did afford, yet nothing of all this could oblige the reforming rabble, but they deface and break them all in pieces, in the church and in the cloyster, and left nothing undemolisht, where either any picture or painted glass did appear; excepting only part of the great west window in the ...
— The New Guide to Peterborough Cathedral • George S. Phillips

... my good friends," replied Philip; "take all the money, and may you be happy; all we ask, is your assistance to proceed on our way to where we are about to go. And now, before you divide your money, oblige me by burying the ...
— The Phantom Ship • Frederick Marryat

... doctor that evening, as he sat with his daughter, "I told Danby that I was more determined than ever; that it was only a boyish escapade which he must look over to oblige me, and he agreed after making a great many bones about it. But I feel very doubtful, Helen, and I may as well ...
— Quicksilver - The Boy With No Skid To His Wheel • George Manville Fenn

... question, Colonel Wilders; it was not my son's place to take her to the tea-room, and I am much annoyed. Will you, to oblige me, go and tell Lydstone I want ...
— The Thin Red Line; and Blue Blood • Arthur Griffiths

... presented at the door of a chateau, the proprietor would gracefully excuse himself with many suave and flattering expressions. He would present the soldiers with two francs each and request them to get a room at the hotel, at the same time expressing regret at his inability to oblige the gallant defenders of Le Belle France. His house was just then filled by the unexpected arrival of some relatives. Feigning sorrow at being deprived of the supreme honor of sleeping under his roof, the Franc-tireurs would make their adieux. As the door closed they kicked each other for ...
— The Story of Paul Boyton - Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World • Paul Boyton

... Earlier in the year he had indeed enjoyed a short excursion from the Tower. At Easter the King had come to attend a bull-baiting on Tower Hill, and Raleigh was hastily removed to the Fleet prison beforehand, lest the etiquette of such occasions should oblige James, against his inclination, to give obnoxious prisoners their liberty. Raleigh was one of five persons so hurried to the Fleet on March 25: on the next day the King came, and 'caused all the prisons of the Tower to be opened, and all the persons then within ...
— Raleigh • Edmund Gosse

... sherry in the rector's study. Mrs. Clacy was responsible for this piece of news, and her profession giving her the entree to almost every back door in Farlingford enabled her to gather news at the fountain-head. For Mrs. Clacy went out to oblige. She obliged the rectory on Mondays, and Mrs. Clubbe, with what was technically described as the heavy wash, on Tuesdays. Whatever Mrs. Clacy was asked to do she could perform with a rough efficiency. But she ...
— The Last Hope • Henry Seton Merriman

... on your benevolence, my friend. Now, as a matter of Christian charity, how cheap could you afford to let him go, to oblige a young lady that's particular ...
— Uncle Tom's Cabin • Harriet Beecher Stowe

... among the populace, but among the nobles and priests. For the latter consider themselves as the ministers of the gods, and the horses, as privy to the divine will. Another kind of divination, by which they explore the event of momentous wars, is to oblige a prisoner, taken by any means whatsoever from the nation with whom they are at variance, to fight with a picked man of their own, each with his own country's arms; and, according as the victory falls, they presage success to the one or ...
— The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus • Tacitus

... that one effect of that man's example was to lift up a noble standard for the cross in a way that no professional missionary could have lifted it up, and to oblige devotees of pleasure and people who had thought but little of such things to acknowledge the power of the Gospel. Many who saw him and spoke to him could not understand him. It was to them a marvellous sight to witness, and I feel that we can hardly be grateful enough to that great man for the ...
— General Gordon - A Christian Hero • Seton Churchill

... Tom. "We want to be farther from Don Luis before dawn arrives. Gato, oblige us by rising ...
— The Young Engineers in Mexico • H. Irving Hancock

... indemnify the authors for the inevitable outlay upon the work; but should that number not be, at least approximately, obtained, their intention must be abandoned. Gentlemen desirous of supporting this undertaking will oblige the authors by an early ...
— Notes & Queries No. 29, Saturday, May 18, 1850 • Various

... off the spell according to his profession; and here is damnum minatum, et malum secutum, and all legal cause for burning a man to ashes! The vagrant Hatteraick probably knew something of the wild young man which might soon oblige him to leave the country; and the selfish Lady Samuelston, learning the probability of his departure, committed a fraud which ought to have rendered ...
— Letters On Demonology And Witchcraft • Sir Walter Scott

... be more proper, under these circumstances, than one of congratulation. The British minister will oblige me by making no allusion whatever to so ...
— The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power • John S. C. Abbott

... what God could give or man desire, Till pity roused him from his soft repose, His life to unseen hazards to expose; Till pity moved him in our cause to appear, Pity! that word which now we hate to hear; But English gratitude is always such, To hate the hand that does oblige too much. ...
— The True-Born Englishman - A Satire • Daniel Defoe

... Crito said, "So be it, Socrates; but what commands have you to give to these or to me, either respecting your children, or any other matter, in attending to which we can most oblige you?" ...
— Museum of Antiquity - A Description of Ancient Life • L. W. Yaggy

... conscience was never lost on Littleton. Besides he was glad to oblige Mrs. Babcock, who seemed so earnest in her desire to improve the aesthetic taste of Benham. Accordingly, he yielded. The lecture was delivered a few weeks later and was a marked success, for Littleton's earnestness of theme and manner was relieved by a graceful, sympathetic delivery. ...
— Unleavened Bread • Robert Grant

... and then only would civilization be perfected, and the savagery and asininity of war a blot on the history of his race to which no man cared to refer. But that was a long way off. When a man's country was in danger there was nothing to do but fight. Noblesse oblige. And fight without growling and whining. Clavering had liked army discipline, sitting in filthy trenches, wounds, hospitals, and killing his fellow men as little as any decent man; but what had these surly grumblers expected? To fight when ...
— Black Oxen • Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

... well bore the name of this favourite disciple of St. Francis. He informed me it was because of a very edifying little miracle, which for all its charm had unfortunately never found a place in the collection of the Fioretti. I begged him to oblige me by telling it, which he proceeded to ...
— The Well of Saint Clare • Anatole France

... it is not to oblige me,' said Lady Mottisfont quickly. 'One can see well enough what it ...
— A Group of Noble Dames • Thomas Hardy

... oblige them to conform to all the laws and regulations of the police or of the municipality which govern at present or may govern hereafter the enjoyment, the transmission, the alienation, and the hypothecation ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Ulysses S. Grant • James D. Richardson

... against a branch and unseated the Prince, who fell, without, however, sustaining any serious injury. The Queen saw the beginning but not the end of the misadventure, and her alarm was only relieved by the return of one of the grooms in waiting, who told the extent of the accident. Noblesse oblige. The Prince mounted a fresh horse and proceeded to the hunt, and the Queen joined him. "Albert received me on the terrace of the large stand and led me up," the Queen wrote in her Journal. "He looked very pale, and said he had been much alarmed lest I should have ...
— Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen V.1. • Sarah Tytler

... Beltham!' my father ejaculated solicitously. 'Here, sir, oblige me by attending to me,' cried the squire, fuming and blinking. 'I sent for you on a piece of business. You got this money through a gentleman, a solicitor, named ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... spokesman, "we are come to be enlightened; we wish you to prove to us that we are totally ignorant; you will oblige us by an explanation of ...
— Diary in America, Series One • Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)

... not! Vell, you are velcome to all you haf heardt; but I am ve'y much oblige' to you for yo' 'hmm.' It vas se right sing in se right place. But do you not sink I shouldt haf been a pre-eacheh? I ...
— Strong Hearts • George W. Cable

... the number annexed to the address on the printed label. When no such number appears, it will be understood that the subscription ends with the current year. No notice of discontinuance need be given, as the Magazine is never sent after the term of subscription expires. Subscribers will oblige us by sending their renewals promptly. State always that your payment is for a renewal, when such is the fact. In changing the direction, the old as well as the new address should be given. The sending of "THE NURSERY" will be regarded ...
— The Nursery, Number 164 - A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers • Various

... more decent dress. At her return to town, within a day or two, I threw myself at her feet with the most ardent acknowledgments, which she rejected with an unfeigned greatness of mind, and told me I could not oblige her more than by never mentioning, or if possible thinking on, a circumstance which must bring to my mind an accident that might be grievous to me to think on. She proceeded thus: "What I have done is in my own eyes a trifle, and perhaps infinitely less than ...
— Joseph Andrews, Vol. 2 • Henry Fielding

... shall have a church near Tergou. She will thank me. And now, sir, we must not detain you too long from those who have a better claim on your society than we have. Duchess, oblige me by bidding one of the pages conduct him to the hall of banquet; the way ...
— The Cloister and the Hearth • Charles Reade

... find it in my heart to feel very unkindly toward a man who made advances toward my wife. But I have no wife, nor any desire for one. Miss Crannon"—he glanced at Leda—"is a very beautiful woman—but I am not in love with her. I am afraid I cannot oblige you with a motive, Commander—either for killing ...
— Unwise Child • Gordon Randall Garrett

... not a great while after his becoming a member of the community of the gipseys, the duke had never heard that any of the noble family of the Carews was become one of those people; and was very glad to have it in his power to oblige any of that family; he therefore treated him with respect, and called a servant to conduct him into an inner room, where the duke's barber waited on him to shave him. Presently after came in a footman, who brought in a good suit of trimmed clothes, ...
— The Surprising Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew • Unknown

... the motion of Mr. Stephen, the governor determined to press the charge, and appointed a commission of enquiry. Additional matter was urged: it was said that Gellibrand advised a client to enter an action against a magistrate, whom his office might oblige him to defend, and that his intimacy with Mr. Murray did not become his relations with the government. Mr. Sergeant, now Judge, Talfourd regretted that by quitting the commissioners appointed by the governor, he had damaged ...
— The History of Tasmania, Volume I (of 2) • John West

... moment, and then answered in a sorrowful rather than an angry tone, "I require no aid, Tressilian, and would rather be injured than benefited by any which your kindness can offer me. Believe me, I am near one whom law and love oblige to protect me." ...
— Kenilworth • Sir Walter Scott

... prevailing rudeness of manners quite enough for his purpose. We see it in the single combat of Hamlet's father with the elder Fortinbras, in the vulgar wassail of the king, in the English monarch being expected to hang Rosencrantz and Guildenstern out of hand merely to oblige his cousin of Denmark, in Laertes, sent to Paris to be made a gentleman of, becoming instantly capable of any the most barbarous treachery to glut his vengeance. We cannot fancy Ragnar Lodbrog or ...
— Among My Books - First Series • James Russell Lowell

... to see you upon some matter of grave concern to yourself. Will you oblige me by coming again to the wall of the Mission tonight at early candlelight? It would avert worldly suspicion if ...
— Selected Stories • Bret Harte

... and Patrick Heron, of Kerroughtree. In the first of these the poet mingled discretion with his mirth, and raised a hearty laugh, in which both parties joined; for this sobriety of temper, good reasons may be assigned: Miller, the elder, of Dalswinton, had desired to oblige him in the affair of Ellisland, and his firm and considerate friend, M'Murdo, of Drumlanrig, was chamberlain to his Grace of Queensbury, on whoso interest Miller stood. On the other hand, his old Jacobitical affections made him the secret well-wisher to Westerhall, ...
— The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. • Robert Burns and Allan Cunningham

... they had thought dried up, still fresh and running? They came dissembling, protesting, expressing deepest sorrow and shame, that when his lordship sent to them, they should have been so unfortunate as to want the present means to oblige so honourable a friend. But Timon begged them not to give such trifles a thought, for he had altogether forgotten it. And these base fawning lords, though they had denied him money in his adversity, yet could not refuse their presence at this new blaze of his returning prosperity. ...
— Tales from Shakespeare • Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb

... minister of the gospel at Newmills, bind and oblige myself to remove forth of the king's dominions, and not to return under pain of death; and that I shall remove before the first of February; and that I shall not remain within the diocese of Glasgow and Edinburgh in the mean time. ...
— Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies) • John Howie

... room where my niece sleeps. A little ten year old child, Cassius. You will oblige me by ...
— Yollop • George Barr McCutcheon

... a gentleman. When I was at Rome I saw poor Stukely often; and this and more he offered me on the part (as he said) of the Pope, if I would just oblige him in the two little matters of being reconciled to the Catholic Church, and joining ...
— Westward Ho! • Charles Kingsley

... page by page, comparing and balancing their opinions, and when they have united in a conscientious verdict, publishing it for the benefit of the world: whereas the criticism is generally the crude and hasty production of an individual, scribbling to while away an idle hour, to oblige a book-seller, or to defray current expenses. How often is it the passing notion of the hour, affected by accidental circumstances; by indisposition, by peevishness, by vapors or indigestion; by personal prejudice, or party feeling. Sometimes a work is ...
— Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies • Washington Irving

... Towhead Armacost, esquire! Hi! ain't that a notion! But plague take these shoes! They aren't half as comfortable as my own old holeys! But it all goes! And she really is a dear little old lady. I'd like to oblige her if I could, ...
— Divided Skates • Evelyn Raymond

... belligerent powers, and to the annoyance of the other, states generally prohibit their subjects from taking Letters of Marque from a power, without the permission of their Sovereigns, and many treaties oblige them also to prohibit their subjects from doing it, as well as to forbid every species of armaments on the enemy's account, in their ports. However, the enemy is not justified in punishing them as pirates, ...
— The Laws Of War, Affecting Commerce And Shipping • H. Byerley Thomson

... you into loading up Correy with an act which to accept as true would oblige us to deny every premise we have been ...
— The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow • Anna Katharine Green

... an' behave yourself," said Toby, as sternly as possible, and as he spoke he took his pet by the collar, to oblige him ...
— Toby Tyler • James Otis

... fellows," observed Wisky, "and instead of grumbling at dark skies and piercing blasts, they make merry where others would murmur. When winter must perforce be their companion, they oblige the grim old giant to add to their amusements. You should see the gay sledges as they dash at full speed over the frozen surface of the River Neva! and the ice-mountains which the people raise, and down which they glide ...
— The Rambles of a Rat • A. L. O. E.

... I wouldn't—I'd even be glad to get rid of myself to oblige you, Kitty, but I can't. Here I am. How are you going to account ...
— The Immortal Moment - The Story of Kitty Tailleur • May Sinclair

... very cosily; and soon were chatting so comfortably, that Master Froggy thought he should soon get rid of his bashfulness, and then should be able to ask pretty Mrs. Mousey to marry him. Presently their little hostess proposed a song, and called upon Froggy to oblige; but, "Really," he replied, "I must be excused, for the fog last night gave me such a cold that I'm as hoarse as a hog." He didn't forget that he had been singing "Rowley, powley," as he came along, but he was afraid that his voice was not ...
— The Frog Who Would A Wooing Go • Charles Bennett

... not a proper way to speak to me. I allow you to do what you like with your things in general; this was much fitter for your aunt Gary than for you. It was something beyond your appreciation. Do not oblige me to remind you that your ...
— Melbourne House • Elizabeth Wetherell

... out the 'principal beauties.' Imagine a woman who wears a green crape bonnet in December and has straps sticking out of the ankles of her interminable boots! My mother begged I would do something to oblige them. I have undertaken to play valet de place this afternoon. They were to have met me here at two o'clock, and I have been waiting for them twenty minutes. Why doesn't she arrive? She has at least a pair of feet to carry her. I don't know whether to be furious ...
— The American • Henry James

... your ladyship has given yourself so immediately, makes me, as I always am, ashamed of putting you to any. There is no persuading you to oblige moderately. Do you know, Madam, that I shall tremble to deliver the letters you have been so good as to send me? If you have said half so much of me, as you are, so partial as to think of me, I shall be undone. ...
— The Letters of Horace Walpole Volume 3 • Horace Walpole

... anything to oblige her just then; but his curiosity was whetted to a keen edge. For she rode swiftly, as one who had a definite aim in view. Straight as an arrow across the veldt she went to the skeleton tree with its stripped trunk and stark, ...
— The Top of the World • Ethel M. Dell

... cried Virginie, "can't you do better than that? You have left all the dirt in the corners. Don't you see? Oblige me ...
— L'Assommoir • Emile Zola

... said Peveril, "hear me, and you shall see how devoted I am to obedience, in all that I can do to oblige you! You say you were happy when we spoke not on such topics—well—at all expense of my own suppressed feelings, that happy period shall return. I will meet you—walk with you—read with you—but only as a brother would with his sister, or a friend with his friend; ...
— Peveril of the Peak • Sir Walter Scott

... chooses not to give up his daughter to me on peaceful terms, our Kshatriya code of righteousness will oblige me to employ force. You may take ...
— The King of the Dark Chamber • Rabindranath Tagore (trans.)

... the trance coming on?" he whispered. "If it is, as commander of the Arctic expedition, I have a particular request to make. Will the Second Sight oblige me by seeing the shortest way to the Northwest Passage, ...
— The Frozen Deep • Wilkie Collins

... topics. The resignation she expressed, with the firm hope of meeting in a future world the friends she left in this, and the effort which sometimes appeared to conceal her sorrow at this temporary separation, frequently affected St. Aubert so much as to oblige him to leave the room. Having indulged his tears awhile, he would dry them and return to the chamber with a countenance composed by an endeavour which ...
— The Mysteries of Udolpho • Ann Radcliffe

... spoke quietly, but her face was paler than ever. She sat down again on the bed. "Is there anything I can do for you," she asked, "before I go away? Oh, I only mean some trifling service that would lay you under no obligation, and would not oblige you to keep up your ...
— I Say No • Wilkie Collins

... rude, Mr. Trojan?" she said. "It is of course the melodramatic attitude. It was not long ago that I saw a play in which letters figured. Pistols were fired, and the heroine wore red plush. Is that to be our style now? I am sorry that I cannot oblige you. There are no pistols, but I will tell you frankly that it is no question of terms. I refuse, under any circumstances whatever, to return ...
— The Wooden Horse • Hugh Walpole

... prosperous widow, who was spending the winter and spring with them. She was far from beautiful, and her manners perhaps were deficient in polish, but her temper was singularly sweet. She was willing to oblige everybody. She accompanied Miss R—— and myself on many interesting expeditions, and was pleased by our seeking her companionship. Otherwise she was much alone, and was left to amuse herself; her only amusement—so I gathered from her chance conversation—being the winning ...
— Memoirs of Life and Literature • W. H. Mallock

... fate of Plimneus, king of Sicyon, and all the offspring he ever had (that is to say, the child and the play,) "died as soon as they were born." My uncle was now only at a loss to know what to do with his wife, that remaining treasure, whose readiness to oblige him had been so miraculously evinced. She saved him the trouble of long cogitation,—an exercise of intellect to which he was never too ardently inclined. There was a gentleman of the court celebrated for his sedateness and solemnity; my aunt was piqued into emulating Orpheus, ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 14, No. 379, Saturday, July 4, 1829. • Various

... his story, which was not fully matured before he had had a few years' hard labour as a soldier in the Low Countries; where a Scotch gentleman introduced him to the notice of Dr. Compton, Bishop of London; who patronised him, and invited him to England. He came, and to oblige the booksellers compiled his History of Formosa, by the two editions of which he realized the noble sum of 22l. He ended in becoming a regular bookseller's hack, and so highly moral a character, that Dr. Johnson, who knew him well, declared he ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli

... "Oblige me, Sidney," replied the Queen, "by not alluding to the High Court Godmother again as a good woman; we may consider ourselves very fortunate that she is doing us the honour of residing under our roof, and you will be good enough to show ...
— In Brief Authority • F. Anstey

... anti-militarist! How far away that seems now—as if a year had gone by! I keep thinking as before! I love peace and hate war like all my comrades. But the French have not offended anybody, and yet they threaten us, wishing to enslave us. . . . But we French can be fierce, since they oblige us to be, and in order to defend ourselves it is just that nobody should shirk, that all should obey. Discipline does not quarrel with Revolution. Remember the armies of the first Republic—all citizens, Generals as well as soldiers, but Hoche, Kleber and the others ...
— The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse • Vicente Blasco Ibanez

... the reply, as the salesman handed down several pieces of inferior quality. After a great deal of thinking and calculating, Agnes ordered a dress of the fine material and one of the coarser. "Will you oblige me by laying the fine dress pattern aside for a few days until I send for it?" she asked. "I will pay for both now however." Then giving Miss Smithers' address for the other, she left the store and was soon at Miss ...
— 'Our guy' - or, The elder brother • Mrs. E. E. Boyd

... stock without cost, but cannot be withheld without loss. That element is civility. A kind and obliging manner carries with it an indescribable charm. It must not be a manner that indicates a mean, groveling, timeserving spirit, but a plain, open, and agreeable demeanor that seems to desire to oblige for the pleasure of doing so, and not for the sake of squeezing an extra penny out ...
— Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 • Barkham Burroughs

... with us, and yet resolved to do it so that it might be apparent he was taken away by force. "Friend," he says, "thou sayest I must go with thee, and it is not in my power to resist thee if I would; but I desire thou wilt oblige the master of the sloop to certify under his hand that I was taken away by force, and against my will." So I drew up a certificate myself, wherein I wrote that he was taken away by main force, as ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol III • Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton, Eds.

... acquaintances,—alleging that he had entirely renounced all attachments, and was unwilling any more to expose himself to their consequences,—on being requested by the Countess Benzoni to allow himself to be presented to me, refused, and, at last, only assented from a desire to oblige her. ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 474 - Vol. XVII. No. 474., Supplementary Number • Various

... king goes away for five minutes, and then returns with the intelligence that if the white chief will provide his men with some salt to eat with their "chop" (food) he really thinks they will be able to march that day. B.-P. expresses a feverish desire to oblige His Majesty, and proceeds with great alacrity to cut a beautifully lithe and whippy cane. In an instant that tribe is marching forward with their commissariat loads upon their heads. But there are others still to be dealt with. The captains of one tribe are discussing ...
— The Story of Baden-Powell - 'The Wolf That Never Sleeps' • Harold Begbie

... material, are readably, and not incongruously, presented in her little book. Population is so sparse and Nature so redundant in the scene of most of her descriptions as to render them sometimes a little lifeless, and oblige her to depend too solely upon her powers of landscape painting with the pen. We miss the human element, as we do in the vast, however luxuriant, pictures of Bierstadt and Moran—artists who preceded her on the same sketching-ground. Not that she fails to make the most ...
— Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, August, 1878 • Various

... miscarriages, and have power of revocation, it is a plain case, that whenever they please they may take up arms; and, according to their doctrine, lawfully too. Let them jointly renounce this one opinion, as in conscience and law they are bound to do, because both scripture and acts of parliament oblige them to it, and we will then thank their obedience for our quiet, whereas now we are only beholden to them for their fear. The miseries of the last war are yet too fresh in all men's memory; and they are not rebels, only because they have ...
— The Works Of John Dryden, Vol. 7 (of 18) - The Duke of Guise; Albion and Albanius; Don Sebastian • John Dryden

... that we are not public artists to need reclames, nor yet sovereigns to be compelled to submit to the microscope? Is this the meaning of civilisation—to make privacy impossible, to oblige every one ...
— Wisdom, Wit, and Pathos of Ouida - Selected from the Works of Ouida • Ouida

... began some apologies, and Mrs. Thrale winked at him to give up the place; but he was willing to oblige me, though he grew more and more frightened every minute, and coloured violently as the Doctor continued Is remonstrance, which he did ...
— The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay Volume 1 • Madame D'Arblay

... this circumstance, I told the mother, that a genuine Mussulman ought to regard lying with his neighbor's wife as a crime almost as bad as murdering him in his bed.[36] I am sorry to be obliged to say, that though the Berbers are a quiet and industrious people, very civil and disposed to oblige all for whom they have any regard, yet, with respect to their women, they appear to be unconscious that their conduct is quite irreconcilable with the precepts of the Koran, and the customs of their co-religionists. They suffer them ...
— A Narrative of the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar • George Bethune English

... proposition false, any more than his relief makes the proposition true, that the actual Corot was the painter. Pragmatism, which, according to M. Hebert, claims that our sentiments MAKE truth and falsehood, would oblige us to conclude that our minds exert no genuinely cognitive ...
— The Meaning of Truth • William James

... unerring taste, society demands in its patrician class another element already intimated, which it significantly terms good-nature,—expressing all degrees of generosity, from the lowest willingness and faculty to oblige, up to the heights of magnanimity and love. Insight we must have, or we shall run against one another and miss the way to our food; but intellect is selfish and barren. The secret of success in society is a certain heartiness and sympathy. A man who is not happy ...
— Essays, Second Series • Ralph Waldo Emerson

... from the managing our domestic estate, which is a sort of handmaid and servant of the body, or from duties of a public nature, or from all other serious business whatever? What else is it, I say, that we do, but invite the soul to reflect on itself? oblige it to converse with itself, and, as far as possible, break off its acquaintance with the body? Now to separate the soul from the body, is to learn to die, and nothing else whatever. Wherefore take my advice; and let us meditate on this, and separate ourselves as ...
— The Academic Questions • M. T. Cicero

... when we ask you to oblige us by playing, my dear. I won't permit that! Twenty dollars and forty cents, was it? ...
— Harriet and the Piper - (Norris Volume XI) • Kathleen Norris

... followed by the lengthened silence. This was to oblige the souls to return. Then the shouting was resumed persistently ...
— Salammbo • Gustave Flaubert

... yourself, my dear fellow; and as to betting, I would not risk more than a fiver. Now oblige me by stepping behind those velvet curtains—a la 'School for Scandal'—and listening in perfect silence to my conversation with Lady Croston. She does not know that you are here, so she will not miss you. You can escape when you have had enough ...
— Smith and the Pharaohs, and Other Tales • Henry Rider Haggard

... King:—On the side of the Duke of Lennox, besides Buckingham himself, were the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke, and the Lords Clifford and Mordaunt; and while the King was hesitating as to the seventh, Sir Giles Mompesson was suggested by the Marquis, and James, willing to oblige his favourite, adopted the proposition. On the side of Prince Charles were ranked the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earls of Montgomery, Rutland, and Dorset, Lord Walden, and, of course, Sir Jocelyn Mounchensey. These preliminaries being fully adjusted, ...
— The Star-Chamber, Volume 2 - An Historical Romance • W. Harrison Ainsworth



Words linked to "Oblige" :   indent, accommodate, force, obligate, impose, thrust, apply, compel, get, squeeze, bind, hale, stimulate, enforce, article, induce, act, implement, obligation, have, pressure, pledge, condemn, disoblige, shame, walk, tie down



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