oblige

oblige
   British
   to work as a domestic servant
   The employee, always female and often elderly, is shown to be conferring a favour on her employer by undertaking a menial task for money:
    Mrs Benbow regretted that 'what with my husband's heart and the questions going on by the police' she would not be obliging me in future, (le Carré, 1995)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • obligé — obligé, ée [ ɔbliʒe ] adj. • XIIIe; de obliger A ♦ (Personnes) 1 ♦ Tenu, lié par une obligation, assujetti par une nécessité. Dr. Une personne obligée envers un créancier. N. Le principal obligé : le débiteur principal (opposé à caution). Être,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • obligé — obligé, ée (o bli jé, jée) part. passé d obliger. 1°   Lié par quelque chose dont on ne peut se dégager. •   Elle sera obligée à son voeu ; et elle accomplira effectivement tout ce qu elle aura promis et juré, SACI Bible, Nombr. XXX, 45. •   Je… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • oblige — o‧blige [əˈblaɪdʒ] verb 1. [transitive] to make it necessary for someone to do something: oblige be obliged to do something • As a result of falling profits, we were obliged to close the factory. 2. [intransitive, transitive] to do something that …   Financial and business terms

  • oblige — 1 constrain, coerce, compel, *force Analogous words: *tie, bind 2 Oblige, accommodate, favor mean to do a service or courtesy. To oblige a person is to make him indebted by doing something that is pleasing to him {Punch was always anxious to… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • oblige — index accommodate, aid, assist, bear (support), bestow, bind (obligate), call ( …   Law dictionary

  • oblige — [v1] require bind, coerce, command, compel, constrain, force, impel, make, necessitate, obligate, shotgun*; concepts 14,242,646 Ant. let off oblige [v2] do a favor or kindness accommodate, aid, assist, avail, bend over backward*, benefit, come… …   New thesaurus

  • oblige — [ə blīj′, ōblīj′] vt. obliged, obliging [ME obligen < OFr obligier < L obligare, to bind, oblige < ob (see OB ) + ligare, to bind: see LIGATURE] 1. to compel by moral, legal, or physical force; constrain 2. to make indebted for a favor… …   English World dictionary

  • 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 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • oblige — (v.) c.1300, to bind by oath, from O.Fr. obligier (13c.), from L. obligare to bind, put under obligation, from ob to (see OB (Cf. ob )) + ligare to bind, from PIE root *leig to bind (see LIGAMENT (Cf. li …   Etymology dictionary

  • oblige — ► VERB 1) compel legally or morally. 2) perform a service or favour for. 3) (be obliged) be indebted or grateful. ORIGIN Latin obligare, from ligare to bind …   English terms dictionary

  • oblige — o|blige S3 [əˈblaıdʒ] v formal [Date: 1200 1300; : Old French; Origin: obliger, from Latin obligare, from ligare to tie ] 1.) [T usually passive] if you are obliged to do something, you have to do it because the situation, the law, a duty etc… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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