Definition

1. Verb:

   • To bind legally or morally; to compel or require someone to do something: To place someone under a legal, moral, or social duty to perform a specific action.
   • To commit (funds, resources) to a particular purpose: To set aside or designate something, especially money, for a specific use or obligation.

2. Adjective:

   • Essential or restricted to a particular mode of life or function: Used primarily in biology to describe an organism that is strictly dependent on a specific environmental condition or nutritional mode.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:

  • The terms of the agreement obligate the company to provide ongoing support.
  • Parents are obligated to care for their children.
  • The grant money is obligated for research purposes and cannot be used for travel.

• Adjective:

  • An obligate parasite cannot complete its life cycle without a host.
  • Tuberculosis is caused by an obligate aerobe, a bacterium that requires oxygen to grow.

Advanced Usage

• "to feel obligated": To feel a strong sense of moral or social duty to do something.
  • I feel obligated to help because they are family.
• "legally obligated": Required to do something by law or contract.
  • Landlords are legally obligated to ensure the property is safe.

Variants and Related Words

• Obligation (n): A duty or commitment.
  • He has a legal obligation to repay the debt.
• Obligatory (adj): Required by a rule, law, or custom; mandatory.
  • Attendance at the safety briefing is obligatory.
• Obligated (adj): The past participle form, commonly used as an adjective meaning being bound or compelled.
  • She felt obligated to attend.

Synonyms

• Compel: To force or oblige someone to do something.
• Bind: To impose a legal or moral constraint.
• Require: To need for a particular purpose; to make necessary.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "Obligate" itself is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. The related noun "obligation" is used in phrases.) - To be under an obligation: To have a duty to do something. - We are under an obligation to report any safety issues. - To meet/fulfill an obligation: To do what is required by a duty. - The company failed to meet its financial obligations.

Related Idioms

• A sense of obligation: A feeling that one must do something because it is one's duty.
  • He acted out of a sense of obligation, not genuine desire.

Adjective

1. restricted to a particular condition of life
   • an obligate anaerobe can survive only in the absence of oxygen

Verb

1. bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted
   • He's held by a contract
   • I'll hold you by your promise
2. commit in order to fulfill an obligation
   • obligate money
3. force somebody to do something
   • We compel all students to fill out this form