commit: Meaning and Definition of

com•mit

Pronunciation: (ku-mit'), [key]
— v., -mit•ted, -mit•ting.
—v.t.
  1. to give in trust or charge; consign.
  2. to consign for preservation: to commit ideas to writing; to commit a poem to memory.
  3. to pledge (oneself&hasp;) to a position on an issue or question; express (one's intention, feeling, etc.): Asked if he was a candidate, he refused to commit himself.
  4. to bind or obligate, as by pledge or assurance; pledge: to commit oneself to a promise; to be committed to a course of action.
  5. to entrust, esp. for safekeeping; commend: to commit one's soul to God.
  6. to do; perform; perpetrate: to commit murder; to commit an error.
  7. to consign to custody: to commit a delinquent to a reformatory.
  8. to place in a mental institution or hospital by or as if by legal authority: He was committed on the certificate of two psychiatrists.
  9. to deliver for treatment, disposal, etc.; relegate: to commit a manuscript to the flames.
  10. to send into a battle: The commander has committed all his troops to the front lines.
  11. to refer (a bill or the like) to a committee for consideration.
—v.i.
  1. to pledge or engage oneself: an athlete who commits to the highest standards.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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