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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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.
          
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 -- {O*bliging*ly}. adv. --
          {O*bliging*ness}, n.
          
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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}]

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