- to bind or oblige morally or legally: to obligate oneself to purchase a building.
- to pledge, commit, or bind (funds, property, etc.) to meet an obligation.
- morally or legally bound; obliged; constrained.
- necessary; essential.
- restricted to a particular condition of life, as certain organisms that can survive only in the absence of oxygen (opposed to facultative): obligate anaerobe.
- to compel, constrain, or oblige morally or legally
- (in the US) to bind (property, funds, etc) as security
- compelled, bound, or restricted
- able to exist under only one set of environmental conditions
