Definition of "promise" []

• A declaration assuring that one will or will not do something; a vow. (noun)
• Something promised. (noun)
• Indication of something favorable to come; expectation: a promise of spring in the air. (noun)
• Indication of future excellence or success: a player of great promise. (noun)
• To commit oneself by a promise to do or give; pledge: left but promised to return. (verb-transitive)

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.

• ""Then -- promise, _promise_ me, Constance, as if I were on my dying bed, that you never will.""
• "When I say "_I_ shall go" (_j'irai_), I merely express an _intention_ or _promise_ to go; but if I continue "_You_ and _they_ shall go," I convey the idea that _my_ intention or promise is operative on _you_ and _them_; and the terms which"
• "If a man finds out something about his neighbour, and, after he has found it out for himself, the neighbour gets him to promise not to publish it, that is a secret of _promise_."