commit

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
commit
    v 1: perform an act, usually with a negative connotation;
         "perpetrate a crime"; "pull a bank robbery" [syn:
         {perpetrate}, {commit}, {pull}]
    2: give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause; "She
       committed herself to the work of God"; "give one's talents to
       a good cause"; "consecrate your life to the church" [syn:
       {give}, {dedicate}, {consecrate}, {commit}, {devote}]
    3: cause to be admitted; of persons to an institution; "After
       the second episode, she had to be committed"; "he was
       committed to prison" [syn: {commit}, {institutionalize},
       {institutionalise}, {send}, {charge}]
    4: confer a trust upon; "The messenger was entrusted with the
       general's secret"; "I commit my soul to God" [syn: {entrust},
       {intrust}, {trust}, {confide}, {commit}]
    5: make an investment; "Put money into bonds" [syn: {invest},
       {put}, {commit}, {place}] [ant: {disinvest}, {divest}]
    6: engage in or perform; "practice safe sex"; "commit a random
       act of kindness" [syn: {commit}, {practice}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Commit \Com"mit\, v. i.
   To sin; esp., to be incontinent. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         Commit not with man's sworn spouse.      --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Commit \Com*mit"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Committed}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Committing}.] [L. committere, commissum, to connect,
   commit; com- + mittere to send. See {Mission}.]
   1. To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to
      intrust; to consign; -- used with to, unto.
      [1913 Webster]

            Commit thy way unto the Lord.         --Ps. xxxvii.
                                                  5.
      [1913 Webster]

            Bid him farewell, commit him to the grave. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To put in charge of a jailor; to imprison.
      [1913 Webster]

            These two were committed.             --Clarendon.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To do; to perpetrate, as a crime, sin, or fault.
      [1913 Webster]

            Thou shalt not commit adultery.       --Ex. xx. 14.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To join for a contest; to match; -- followed by with. [R.]
      --Dr. H. More.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To pledge or bind; to compromise, expose, or endanger by
      some decisive act or preliminary step; -- often used
      reflexively; as, to commit one's self to a certain course.
      [1913 Webster]

            You might have satisfied every duty of political
            friendship, without commiting the honor of your
            sovereign.                            --Junius.
      [1913 Webster]

            Any sudden assent to the proposal . . . might
            possibly be considered as committing the faith of
            the United States.                    --Marshall.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. To confound. [An obsolete Latinism.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Committing short and long [quantities]. --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   {To commit a bill} (Legislation), to refer or intrust it to a
      committee or others, to be considered and reported.

   {To commit to memory}, or {To commit}, to learn by heart; to
      memorize.

   Syn: {To Commit}, {Intrust}, {Consign}.

   Usage: These words have in common the idea of transferring
          from one's self to the care and custody of another.
          Commit is the widest term, and may express only the
          general idea of delivering into the charge of another;
          as, to commit a lawsuit to the care of an attorney; or
          it may have the special sense of intrusting with or
          without limitations, as to a superior power, or to a
          careful servant, or of consigning, as to writing or
          paper, to the flames, or to prison. To intrust denotes
          the act of committing to the exercise of confidence or
          trust; as, to intrust a friend with the care of a
          child, or with a secret. To consign is a more formal
          act, and regards the thing transferred as placed
          chiefly or wholly out of one's immediate control; as,
          to consign a pupil to the charge of his instructor; to
          consign goods to an agent for sale; to consign a work
          to the press.
          [1913 Webster]
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
126 Moby Thesaurus words for "commit":
      accept obligation, accomplish, accredit, achieve, agree, agree to,
      allocate, allot, answer for, assign, assure, authorize,
      be answerable for, be responsible for, be security for, bind,
      bring about, bring off, bring to pass, carry out, charge, charter,
      commend, commission, commit to prison, confide, confine,
      consecrate, consign, contract, contravene, covenant, dedicate,
      delegate, deliver, depute, deputize, destine, detach, detail,
      devolute, devolve, devolve upon, devote, do, do to, effect,
      effectuate, empower, enfeoff, engage, entrust, execute, give,
      give in charge, give in trust, go and do, go bail for, guarantee,
      hand over, have an understanding, imprison, incarcerate, infeudate,
      inflict, institutionalize, intern, license, make, make imperative,
      make incumbent, mission, move, obligate, oblige, offend, offer,
      ordain, pay, perform, perpetrate, perpetuate, pledge, post,
      produce, promise, pull, pull off, put away, realize, recommit,
      relegate, remand, remit, remove, render, require, saddle with,
      scandalize, send away, send out, send to jail, send up, sentence,
      set apart, shake hands on, shift, shut up, sin, submit, swear,
      take and do, take the vows, tie, transfer, transgress, trespass,
      trust, turn over, undertake, up and do, violate, vouchsafe, vow,
      warrant, wreak

    

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