Obliging

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Oblige \O*blige"\ ([-o]*bl[imac]j"; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
     {Obliged} ([-o]*bl[imac]jd"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Obliging}
     ([-o]*bl[imac]"j[i^]ng).] [OF. obligier, F. obliger, L.
     obligare; ob (see {Ob-}) + ligare to bind. See {Ligament},
     and cf. {Obligate}.]
     1. To attach, as by a bond. [Obs.]


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              He had obliged all the senators and magistrates
              firmly to himself.                    --Bacon.
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     2. To constrain by physical, moral, or legal force; to put
        under obligation to do or forbear something.
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              The obliging power of the law is neither founded in,
              nor to be measured by, the rewards and punishments
              annexed to it.                        --South.
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              Religion obliges men to the practice of those
              virtues which conduce to the preservation of our
              health.                               --Tillotson.
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     3. To bind by some favor rendered; to place under a debt;
        hence, to do a favor to; to please; to gratify; to
        accommodate.
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              Thus man, by his own strength, to heaven would soar,
              And would not be obliged to God for more. --Dryden.
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              The gates before it are brass, and the whole much
              obliged to Pope Urban VIII.           --Evelyn.
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              I shall be more obliged to you than I can express.
                                                    --Mrs. E.
                                                    Montagu.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  obliging \o*bli"ging\ ([-o]*bl[imac]"j[i^]ng), a.
     Putting under obligation; disposed to oblige or do favors;
     hence, helpful; civil; kind.
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           Mons. Strozzi has many curiosities, and is very
           obliging to a stranger who desires the sight of them.
                                                    --Addison.
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     Syn: Civil; complaisant; courteous; kind, -- {Obliging},
          {Kind}, {Complaisant}.
  
     Usage: One is kind who desires to see others happy; one is
            complaisant who endeavors to make them so in social
            intercourse by attentions calculated to please; one
            who is obliging performs some actual service, or has
            the disposition to do so.
            [1913 Webster] -- {O*bli"ging*ly}. adv. --
            {O*bli"ging*ness}, n.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  obliging
       adj 1: happy to comply [syn: {complying}, {yielding}]
       2: showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others; "to
          close one's eyes like a complaisant husband whose wife has
          taken a lover"; "the obliging waiter was in no hurry for
          us to leave" [syn: {complaisant}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  49 Moby Thesaurus words for "obliging":
     accommodating, accommodative, affable, agreeable, amenable,
     amiable, attentive, benevolent, benign, benignant, civil,
     complaisant, compliant, considerate, courteous, decent,
     deferential, delicate, easy, fair, friendly, generous,
     good-humored, good-natured, good-tempered, graceful, gracious,
     heedful, helpful, indulgent, kind, kindly, lenient, mild, mindful,
     mindful of others, overindulgent, overpermissive, permissive,
     polite, regardful, respectful, solicitous, supportive, tactful,
     thoughtful, tolerant, urbane, willing