Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Obligate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Obligate \Ob"li*gate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Obligated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Obligating}.] [L. obligatus, p. p. of obligare. See
{Oblige}.]
1. To bring or place under obligation, moral or legal; to
hold by a constraining motive. ``Obligated by a sense of
duty.'' --Proudfit.
That's your true plan -- to obligate The present
ministers of state. --Churchill.
2. To bind or firmly hold to an act; to compel; to constrain;
to bind to any act of duty or courtesy by a formal pledge.
That they may not incline or be obligated to any
vile or lowly occupations. --Landor.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
obligate
adj 1: (biology) restricted to a particular condition of life; "an
obligate anaerobe can survive only in the absence of
OXYGen" [ant: {facultative}]
2: being under moral or legal obligation; "felt bound by his
promise" [syn: {bound}, {compelled(p)}, {constrained(p)}]
v : force or compel somebody to do something; "We compel all
students to fill out this form" [syn: {compel}, {oblige}]
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