Definition of "oblige" []

• To constrain by physical, legal, social, or moral means. (verb-transitive)
• To make indebted or grateful: I am obliged to you for your gracious hospitality. (verb-transitive)
• To do a service or favor for: They obliged us by arriving early. (verb-transitive)
• To do a service or favor: The soloist obliged with yet another encore. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Perhaps, then, there are times when noblesse oblige is a better principle than mere populism and compromise."
• "The expression "noblesse oblige" is difficult to define but its implications are precise and clear."
• "He sort of asks these spirits in the house for help and they oblige, which is pretty sweet laughs."