v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Obliged p. pr. & vb. n. Obliging ] [ 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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He had obliged all the senators and magistrates firmly to himself. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To constrain by physical, moral, or legal force; to put under obligation to do or forbear something. [ 1913 Webster ]

The obliging power of the law is neither founded in, nor to be measured by, the rewards and punishments annexed to it. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Religion obliges men to the practice of those virtues which conduce to the preservation of our health. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To bind by some favor rendered; to place under a debt; hence, to do a favor to; to please; to gratify; to accommodate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus man, by his own strength, to heaven would soar,
And would not be obliged to God for more. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gates before it are brass, and the whole much obliged to Pope Urban VIII. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall be more obliged to you than I can express. Mrs. E. Montagu. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. obligé, p. p. of obliger. See Oblige. ] The person to whom another is bound, or the person to whom a bond is given. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Obligation. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I will not resist, therefore, whatever it is, either of divine or human obligement, that you lay upon me. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, obliges. Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]