All 27 Uses of

oblige

in

The Remains of the Day

But he would be much obliged, he repeated, if I could "give it a go with four".
Chpt Pro. *

obliged = grateful or indebted

So it was in this instance; that is to say, my receiving the letter from Miss Kenton, containing as it did, along with its long, rather unrevealing passages, an unmistakable nostalgia for Darlington Hall, and - I am quite sure of this - distinct hints of her desire to return here, obliged me to see my staff plan afresh.
Chpt Pro.

obliged = required (to do something)

I hope you do not think me unduly vain with regard to this last matter; it is just that one never knows when one might be obliged to give out that one is from Darlington Hall, and it is important that one be attired at such times in a manner worthy of one's position.
Chpt Pro.

I was obliged, as I was saying, to spend some uncomfortable minutes standing in the drawing room yesterday afternoon while Mr Farraday went about his bantering.
Chpt Pro.

Of course, the servants' hall at Darlington Hall, like any servants' hall anywhere, was obliged to receive employees of varying degrees of intellect and perception, and I recall many a time having to bite my lip while some employee and at times, I regret to say, members of my own staff - excitedly eulogized the likes of, say, Mr Jack Neighbours.
Chpt 1e -

Mr Charles remembered marvelling at how my father showed not one hint of discomfort or anger, but continued to drive with an expression balanced perfectly between personal dignity and readiness to oblige.
Chpt 1e - *

oblige = be helpful

The remarks grew ever more debased and treacherous so that Mr Charles - at least so he claimed - was obliged to intervene with the suggestion that such talk was bad form.
Chpt 1e -

obliged = required (to do something)

Indeed, he was a man of some six feet three inches, and his countenance, though reassuring while one knew he was intent on obliging, could seem extremely forbidding viewed in certain other contexts.
Chpt 1e -

obliging = helpful or willing to be helpful

My father, appreciating his employer's position, volunteered immediately to take the General, and thus was obliged to suffer intimate proximity for four days with the man he detested.
Chpt 1e -

obliged = required (to do something)

This proved futile, and when I decided eventually to rise, it was still so dark that I was obliged to turn on the electric light in order to shave at the sink in the corner.
Chpt 2m -

But when on first hearing of this arrangement I tried to inform Miss Kenton of it, she once again refused to converse with me, and in order to accomplish matters as quickly as possible I was actually obliged to write a note and put it under the door of her parlour.
Chpt 2m -

I was obliged during the course of that first morning to go constantly in and out of the room, and so was unable to follow the proceedings at all fully.
Chpt 2m - *

The German countess then began to speak, but I was at this point, for some reason I do not recollect, obliged to leave the drawing room for an extended period.
Chpt 2m -

In any case, I did not linger long enough - as I was obliged to explain to his lordship shortly afterwards - to hear anything that would give a clue as to M. Dupont's attitude to Mr Lewis' remarks.
Chpt 2m -

He seemed to be rather amused by the whole situation, but was obliging enough; he returned inside the house and after a few moments emerged again with a jug of water and a funnel.
Chpt 2a -

obliging = helpful or willing to be helpful

Indeed, although one could not see out far that day on account of the encroaching mist, and the daylight too was rapidly fading by this stage, obliging Miss Kenton to hold her needlework up to the last of it, I remember our often breaking off from our respective activities simply to gaze out at the views around us.
Chpt 3e -

obliging = requiring (obligating) to do something

That is to say, we were obliged to find replacements for the two dismissed Jewish maids, and this Lisa turned out to be one of them.
Chpt 3e -

obliged = required (to do something)

Furthermore, I was obliged to recognize certain other little signs which tended to support Mr Graham's theory.
Chpt 3e -

The gentleman who was shown in was still fairly young - perhaps around forty or so tall and thin; tail enough, in fact, that he was obliged to stoop to enter the doorway of the cottage.
Chpt 3e -

Any decent idea is amended to ineffectuality by the time it's gone half-way through the various committees it's obliged to pass through.
Chpt 3e -

At this point, I thanked Dr Carlisle and we took leave of each other, though I was obliged to follow the back of his Rover along the twisting hill road for a further mile or so before our routes separated.
Chpt 4a -

In the course of clearing the dining room, and also in preparing the drawing room for the arrival of the evening's visitors, I was obliged to walk repeatedly past the smoking room doors.
Chpt 4a -

Thereafter I took up my position out in the hall - the position near the entrance arch that I customarily took up during important meetings - and was not obliged to move from it again until some two hours later, when the back door bell was rung.
Chpt 4a -

She had not moved, and consequently she was obliged to raise her voice slightly in addressing me, so that it resonated rather oddly in the cavernous spaces of the dark and empty kitchen.
Chpt 4a -

Crossing the hall again, I took up my usual position beneath the arch, and for the next hour or so, until, that is, the gentlemen finally departed, no event occurred which obliged me to move from my spot.
Chpt 4a -

We had been enjoying some recollection or other concerning the young Mr Cardinal, so that I was then obliged to go on to inform Miss Kenton of the gentleman's being killed in Belgium during the war.
Chpt 6e -

Large puddles had formed on the ground around where I had left the Ford, obliging me to assist Miss Kenton a little to allow her to reach the passenger door.
Chpt 6e -

obliging = requiring (obligating) to do something

Definitions:

(1) (oblige as in: I am obliged by law.)
require (obligate) to do something
(2) (oblige as in: I obliged her every request.)
grant a favor to someone
(3) (obliged as in: I'm much obliged for your kindness)
grateful or indebted
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Much more rarely, in classic literature you may see oblige as a synonym for ask as when Jules Verne wrote "I obliged the Professor to move his lamp over the walls of the gallery," in Journey to the Center of the Earth.