obey


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o·bey

 (ō-bā′)
v. o·beyed, o·bey·ing, o·beys
v.tr.
1. To carry out or fulfill the command, order, or instruction of.
2. To carry out or comply with (a command, for example).
v.intr.
To behave obediently.

[Middle English obeien, from Old French obeir, from Latin oboedīre, to listen to : ob-, to; see ob- + audīre, to hear; see au- in Indo-European roots.]

o·bey′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

obey

(əˈbeɪ)
vb
1. to carry out (instructions or orders); comply with (demands)
2. to behave or act in accordance with (one's feelings, whims, etc)
[C13: from Old French obéir, from Latin oboedīre, from ob- to, towards + audīre to hear]
oˈbeyer n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

o•bey

(oʊˈbeɪ)

v.t.
1. to comply with the wishes, instructions, or commands of.
2. to comply with or follow: to obey orders.
3. to respond readily to: The car obeys my slightest touch on the steering wheel.
4. to submit or conform to: to obey the law of gravity.
v.i.
5. to be obedient.
[1250–1300; Middle English < Old French obeir < Latin oboedīre=ob- ob- + audīre to hear]
o•bey′a•ble, adj.
o•bey′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

obey

If you obey someone who has authority over you, you do what they tell you to do.

She wanted her daughter to obey her.
Alfonsin issued the same order three times, but he was not obeyed.

You can also obey an order or instruction.

In all 198 NCOs and men refused to obey orders.
Be careful to obey the manufacturer's washing instructions.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

obey


Past participle: obeyed
Gerund: obeying

Imperative
obey
obey
Present
I obey
you obey
he/she/it obeys
we obey
you obey
they obey
Preterite
I obeyed
you obeyed
he/she/it obeyed
we obeyed
you obeyed
they obeyed
Present Continuous
I am obeying
you are obeying
he/she/it is obeying
we are obeying
you are obeying
they are obeying
Present Perfect
I have obeyed
you have obeyed
he/she/it has obeyed
we have obeyed
you have obeyed
they have obeyed
Past Continuous
I was obeying
you were obeying
he/she/it was obeying
we were obeying
you were obeying
they were obeying
Past Perfect
I had obeyed
you had obeyed
he/she/it had obeyed
we had obeyed
you had obeyed
they had obeyed
Future
I will obey
you will obey
he/she/it will obey
we will obey
you will obey
they will obey
Future Perfect
I will have obeyed
you will have obeyed
he/she/it will have obeyed
we will have obeyed
you will have obeyed
they will have obeyed
Future Continuous
I will be obeying
you will be obeying
he/she/it will be obeying
we will be obeying
you will be obeying
they will be obeying
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been obeying
you have been obeying
he/she/it has been obeying
we have been obeying
you have been obeying
they have been obeying
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been obeying
you will have been obeying
he/she/it will have been obeying
we will have been obeying
you will have been obeying
they will have been obeying
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been obeying
you had been obeying
he/she/it had been obeying
we had been obeying
you had been obeying
they had been obeying
Conditional
I would obey
you would obey
he/she/it would obey
we would obey
you would obey
they would obey
Past Conditional
I would have obeyed
you would have obeyed
he/she/it would have obeyed
we would have obeyed
you would have obeyed
they would have obeyed
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.obey - be obedient toobey - be obedient to      
adapt, conform, adjust - adapt or conform oneself to new or different conditions; "We must adjust to the bad economic situation"
abide by, comply, follow - act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes; "He complied with my instructions"; "You must comply or else!"; "Follow these simple rules"; "abide by the rules"
take orders - receive and be expected to follow directions or commands; "I don't take orders from you!"
heed, listen, mind - pay close attention to; give heed to; "Heed the advice of the old men"
disobey - refuse to go along with; refuse to follow; be disobedient; "He disobeyed his supervisor and was fired"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

obey

verb
1. submit to, surrender (to), give way to, succumb to, bow to, give in to, yield to, be ruled by, serve, defer to, cave in to (informal), take orders from, do what you are told by Cissie obeyed her mother without question.
submit to rebel, disobey
2. submit, yield, surrender, give in, give way, succumb, cave in, toe the line, knuckle under (informal), do what is expected, come to heel, get into line If you love me you will obey.
4. abide by, keep, follow, comply with, observe, mind, embrace, hold to, heed, conform to, keep to, adhere to, be ruled by Most people obey the law.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

obey

verb
To act in conformity with:
Idiom: toe the line.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُطيعيُطِيعُ
poslouchat
adlyde
totellanoudattaa
poštovati
engedelmeskedik
hlÿîa
従う
순종하다
klusniaipaklusimas
poslúchať
ubogati
lyda
เชื่อฟัง
boyun eğmekitaat etmek
vâng lời

obey

[əˈbeɪ]
A. VT [+ person] → obedecer; [+ law] → observar, acatar; [+ order] → cumplir; [+ instruction] → seguir; [+ summons] → acudir a; [+ need, controls] → responder a
I like to be obeyedexijo obediencia
B. VIobedecer
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

obey

[əˈbeɪ]
vt
[+ person] → obéir à
They obeyed me without question → Ils m'ont obéi sans poser de question.
[+ instructions, regulations, law] → obéir à
viobéir
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

obey

vtgehorchen (+dat); conscience alsofolgen (+dat); (child, dog also) → folgen (+dat); law, rulessich halten an (+acc), → befolgen; orderbefolgen; (Jur) summonsnachkommen (+dat), → Folge leisten (+dat); (machine, vehicle) controlsreagieren or ansprechen auf (+acc); drivergehorchen (+dat); to obey somebody implicitlyjdm absoluten Gehorsam leisten; I expect to be obeyedich erwarte, dass man meine Anordnungen befolgt
vigehorchen; (child, dog also)folgen; (machine, vehicle also)reagieren; the troops refused to obeydie Truppen verweigerten den Gehorsam
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

obey

[əˈbeɪ]
1. vt (person) → ubbidire a; (instructions) → seguire; (regulations) → osservare
to obey one's conscience → seguire i dettami della propria coscienza
2. viubbidire
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

obey

(əˈbei) , ((American) ou-) verb
to do what one is told to do. I obeyed the order.
obedience (əˈbiːdjəns) noun
1. the act of obeying. obedience to an order.
2. willingness to obey. She showed great obedience.
oˈbedient adjective
an obedient and well-behaved child.
oˈbediently adverb
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

obey

يُطِيعُ poslouchat adlyde gehorchen υπακούω obedecer totella obéir poštovati ubbidire 従う 순종하다 gehoorzamen adlyde być posłusznym obedecer слушаться lyda เชื่อฟัง boyun eğmek vâng lời 服从
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

obey

v. obedecer;
You must ___usted debe ___, tú debes ___.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

obey

vt obedecer
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
And this heard I secondly: Whatever cannot obey itself, is commanded.
I will; and first tell me, Do you admit that it is just or subjects to obey their rulers?
"We're taught to obey the man at our head: step off when he says so, and step in when he says so.
"Take one of the carriage-lamps, Bertuccio," said the count, "and show me the apartments." The steward obeyed in silence, but it was easy to see, from the manner in which the hand that held the light trembled, how much it cost him to obey.
"And if a superior officer gives you orders, you will obey?"
You also tried to release the objective case from its thraldom to the preposition, and it is written that servants should obey their masters.
She justifies her action, asserting that she was bound to obey the eternal laws of right and wrong in spite of any human ordinance.
If the Sultan was to order me to plunge a dagger in your heart, I should have to obey. What a task for a father!
Passepartout, delighted that the young woman, who was very gracious to him, was going to continue the journey with them, went off at a brisk gait to obey his master's order.
But he who reaches sovereignty by popular favour finds himself alone, and has none around him, or few, who are not prepared to obey him.
for he who is intemperate [1260a] and a coward will never do what he ought: it is evident then that both parties ought to be virtuous; but there is a difference between them, as there is between those who by nature command and who by nature obey, and this originates in the soul; for in this nature has planted the governing and submitting principle, the virtues of which we say are different, as are those of a rational and an irrational being.
There is my daughter, now, whom I have brought up as my friend, never doth anything without my advice, nor ever refuses to take it when I give it her." "You have never yet given her advice in an affair of this kind," said Nightingale; "for I am greatly mistaken in my cousin, if she would be very ready to obey even your most positive commands in abandoning her inclinations." "Don't abuse my girl," answered the old gentleman with some emotion; "don't abuse my Harriet.