All 38 Uses of
oblige
in
The Mill on the Floss
- ...he was a man of very obliging manners.
Chpt 1.3 (definition 1) *obliging = helpful
- …Mrs. Glegg did her sister Bessy some injustice, for Mrs. Tulliver had really made great efforts to induce Maggie to wear a leghorn bonnet and a dyed silk frock made out of her aunt Glegg's, but the results had been such that Mrs. Tulliver was obliged to bury them in her maternal bosom; for Maggie, declaring that the frock smelt of nasty dye, had taken an opportunity of basting it together with the roast beef the first Sunday she wore it, and finding this scheme answer, she had…
Chpt 1.7 (definition 2)obliged = required (to do something)
- It would do him good rather than harm, now, if he were obliged to raise this three hundred pounds; it would make him look about him better, and not act so foolishly about his wool this year as he did the last; in fact, Mr. Tulliver had been too easy with his brother-in-law, and because he had let the interest run on for two years, Moss was likely enough to think that he should never be troubled about the principal.
Chpt 1.8 (definition 2)
- At last she was close by Lucy; and Tom, who had been aware of her approach, but would not notice it till he was obliged, turned round and said,— "Now, get away, Maggie; there's no room for you on the grass here."
Chpt 1.10 (definition 2)
- "Oh yes, thank you," said Maggie, "I'm very much obliged to you."
Chpt 1.11 (definition 3) *obliged = grateful or indebted
- When the woman had patted her on the back, and said "Good-by," the donkey, at a strong hint from the man's stick, set off at a rapid walk along the lane toward the point Maggie had come from an hour ago, while the tall girl and the rough urchin, also furnished with sticks, obligingly escorted them for the first hundred yards, with much screaming and thwacking.†
Chpt 1.11 (definition 1)
- It was a time when ignorance was much more comfortable than at present, and was received with all the honors in very good society, without being obliged to dress itself in an elaborate costume of knowledge; a time when cheap periodicals were not, and when country surgeons never thought of asking their female patients if they were fond of reading, but simply took it for granted that they preferred gossip; a time when ladies in rich silk gowns wore large pockets, in which they carried a…
Chpt 1.12 (definition 2)obliged = required (to do something)
- And as an extra touch of bitterness, the injured miller had recently, in borrowing the five hundred pounds, been obliged to carry a little business to Wakem's office on his own account.
Chpt 2.2 (definition 2)
- "Only you're obliged to remember it while you're at school, else you've got to learn ever so many lines of 'Speaker.'"
Chpt 2.3 (definition 2)
- Mr. Tulliver, having a vague intention that Tom should be put to some business which included the drawing out of plans and maps, had complained to Mr. Riley, when he saw him at Mudport, that Tom seemed to be learning nothing of that sort; whereupon that obliging adviser had suggested that Tom should have drawing-lessons.
Chpt 2.4 (definition 1)obliging = helpful or willing to be helpful
- There was but one way of doing this; any of those low callings in which men are obliged to do good work at a low price were forbidden to clergymen; was it their fault if their only resource was to turn out very poor work at a high price?
Chpt 2.4 (definition 2)obliged = required (to do something)
- Philip was not her favorite of the two pupils; he was less obliging than Tom, who was made useful in many ways.
Chpt 2.4 (definition 1)obliging = helpful or willing to be helpful
- It was clear that the costs of the suit could be paid without his being obliged to turn out of his old place, and look like a ruined man.
Chpt 3.1 (definition 2)obliged = required (to do something)
- "Why, there's this to be thought on, Mrs. Moss," said Mr. Glegg, "and it's right to warn you,—if Tulliver's made a bankrupt, and he's got a note-of-hand of your husband's for three hundred pounds, you'll be obliged to pay it; th' assignees 'ull come on you for it."
Chpt 3.3 (definition 2)
- I'm very sorry if it goes hard with you, Mrs. Moss, but my opinion is, looking at it one way, it'll be right for you to raise the money; and looking at it th' other way, you'll be obliged to pay it.
Chpt 3.3 (definition 2)
- Mr. Deane was obliged to tell Mrs. Tulliver something to that effect, when he rode over to the mill to inspect the books in company with Mrs. Glegg; for she had observed that "if Guest & Co. would only think about it, Mr. Tulliver's father and grandfather had been carrying on Dorlcote Mill long before the oil-mill of that firm had been so much as thought of."
Chpt 3.7 (definition 2)
- The mother was getting fond of her tall, brown girl,—the only bit of furniture now on which she could bestow her anxiety and pride; and Maggie, in spite of her own ascetic wish to have no personal adornment, was obliged to give way to her mother about her hair, and submit to have the abundant black locks plaited into a coronet on the summit of her head, after the pitiable fashion of those antiquated times.
Chpt 4.3 (definition 2)
- One of her frequent walks, when she was not obliged to go to St. Ogg's, was to a spot that lay beyond what was called the "Hill,"—an insignificant rise of ground crowned by trees, lying along the side of the road which ran by the gates of Dorlcote Mill.
Chpt 5.1 (definition 2)
- "And pray, what is this business as is to be kept from me?" said Mrs. Glegg, who, solicited by a double curiosity, was obliged to let the one-half wait.
Chpt 5.2 (definition 2)
- I'm obliged to make believe as I ask more nor I do for my goods, else they'd find out I was a flat.
Chpt 5.2 (definition 2)
- She moved away, so that he was obliged to rise and follow her.
Chpt 5.3 (definition 2)
- The Muses were uncomfortable goddesses, I think,—obliged always to carry rolls and musical instruments about with them.
Chpt 5.4 (definition 2)
- To her father, Wakem was like a disfiguring disease, of which he was obliged to endure the consciousness, but was exasperated to have the existence recognized by others; and no amount of sensitiveness in her about her father could be surprising, Maggie thought.
Chpt 5.5 (definition 2)
- Oh no, Mr. Guest will be obliged to go out of the room again if he sees you in it.
Chpt 6.2 (definition 2)
- Plain sewing was the only thing I could get money by, so I was obliged to try and do it well.
Chpt 6.2 (definition 2) *
- Generally, Stephen admitted, he was not fond of women who had any peculiarity of character, but here the peculiarity seemed really of a superior kind, and provided one is not obliged to marry such women, why, they certainly make a variety in social intercourse.
Chpt 6.2 (definition 2)
- Maggie was obliged to go to Tom's lodgings in the middle of the day, when he would be coming in to dinner, else she would not have found him at home.
Chpt 6.4 (definition 2)
- But I was obliged to come to-day to speak to my brother.
Chpt 6.4 (definition 2)
- She was obliged to be childish; the tears would come.
Chpt 6.4 (definition 2)
- One day—it was the day of Philip's return—Lucy had formed a sudden engagement to spend the evening with Mrs. Kenn, whose delicate state of health, threatening to become confirmed illness through an attack of bronchitis, obliged her to resign her functions at the coming bazaar into the hands of other ladies, of whom she wished Lucy to be one.
Chpt 6.6 (definition 2)
- It seemed to Stephen like some action in a dream that he was obliged to do, and wonder at himself all the while,—to go on stroking Minny's head.
Chpt 6.6 (definition 2)
- Another pause, during which Maggie looked steadily out of the window, till by a great effort she moved her head to look down at Minny's back again, and said,— "I wish Lucy had not been obliged to go out."
Chpt 6.6 (definition 2)
- "Won't you come out a little way into the garden?" said Stephen, in a still gentler tone; but the next moment he was vexed that she did not say "No," for she moved away now toward the open window, and he was obliged to take his hat and walk by her side.
Chpt 6.6 (definition 2)
- That tone of gentle solicitude obliged her to look at the face that was bent toward her, and to say, "No, thank you"; and nothing could prevent that mutual glance from being delicious to both, as it had been the evening before.
Chpt 6.7 (definition 2)
- "But I can tell Mrs. Kenn that you have disposed of her goods very quickly," he added; "she will be very much obliged to you."
Chpt 6.9 (definition 3)obliged = grateful or indebted
- But they had reached the end of the conservatory, and were obliged to pause and turn.
Chpt 6.10 (definition 2)obliged = required (to do something)
- But further questions would have been too intrusive, even if he could have framed them suitably, and he was obliged to carry baby away again to an expectant mother.
Chpt 7.1 (definition 2)
- But the younger generation, who had seen several small floods, thought lightly of these sombre recollections and forebodings; and Bob Jakin, naturally prone to take a hopeful view of his own luck, laughed at his mother when she regretted their having taken a house by the riverside, observing that but for that they would have had no boats, which were the most lucky of possessions in case of a flood that obliged them to go to a distance for food.
Chpt 7.5 (definition 2)
Definitions:
-
(1) (oblige as in: I obliged her every request.) grant a favor to someone
-
(2) (oblige as in: I am obliged by law.) require (obligate) to do something
-
(3) (obliged as in: I'm much obliged for your kindness) grateful or indebted