Will he obey when one commands? --Tennyson.
Note: By some old writers obey was used, as in the French
idiom, with the preposition to.
His servants ye are, to whom ye obey. --Rom. vi.
16.
He commanded the trumpets to sound: to which the
two brave knights obeying, they performed their
courses. --Sir. P.
Sidney.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord. --Eph. vi.
1.
Was she the God, that her thou didst obey? --Milton.
2. To submit to the authority of; to be ruled by.
My will obeyed his will. --Chaucer.
Afric and India shall his power obey. --Dryden.
3. To yield to the impulse, power, or operation of; as, a
ship obeys her helm.