Obligation

1. (n.) The act of obligating.

2. (n.) That which obligates or constrains; the binding power of a promise, contract, oath, or vow, or of law; that which constitutes legal or moral duty.

3. (n.) Any act by which a person becomes bound to do something to or for another, or to forbear something; external duties imposed by law, promise, or contract, by the relations of society, or by courtesy, kindness, etc.

4. (n.) The state of being obligated or bound; the state of being indebted for an act of favor or kindness; as, to place others under obligations to one.

5. (n.) A bond with a condition annexed, and a penalty for nonfulfillment. In a larger sense, it is an acknowledgment of a duty to pay a certain sum or do a certain things.

Thesaurus Entries

accountability, accounts payable, accounts receivable, act of grace, act of kindness, affair, agreement, allegiance, amount due, appreciation, appreciativeness, aptitude, aptness, arrearage, assigned task, attempt, bad debts, benefaction, benefit, benevolence, benignity, bill, bills, blessing, bond, borrowing, boundary condition, bounden duty, burden, business, call, call of duty, catch, cause, chance, charge, charges, chits, clause, coaction, commitment, committal, compulsatory, compulsion, compulsiveness, compulsoriness, compulsory, condition, constraint, contingency, contract, courtesy, covenant, deal, debt, dedication, deference, demand, devoir, devotion, donnee, due, dues, duress, duties and responsibilities, duty, effort, enforcement, engagement, enterprise, escalator clause, escape clause, escape hatch, ethics, eventuality, favor, fealty, financial commitment, fine print, floating debt, forcing, funded debt, given, good deed, good offices, good turn, grace, gratefulness, gratitude, grounds, homage, imperative, imperious, indebtedness, indebtment, inevitability, irresistibility, joker, kicker, kind deed, kind offices, kindly act, kindness, labor of love, liability, liableness, likelihood, likeliness, limiting condition, line of duty, loyalty, mandatedness, mandatoriness, maturity, mercy, mission, mitzvah, must, national debt, necessariness, necessitation, necessitude, necessity, need, obligatoriness, obligatory, obligement, office, onus, operation, ought, outstanding debt, parameter, part, place, plan, pledge, possibility, preengagement, prerequisite, probability, program, project, promise, proneness, proposition, provision, provisions, proviso, public debt, recognizance, required, requirement, requisite, respect, responsibility, restraint, right, saving clause, score, self-imposed duty, sense of obligation, service, sine qua non, small print, specification, stipulation, string, task, terms, thankfulness, trust, turn, ultimatum, uncollectibles, understanding, undertaking, unfulfilled pledge, venture, verbal agreement, weakness, whereas, work