commit

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Committed; p. pr. & vb. n. Committing. ] [ L. committere, commissum, to connect, commit; com- + mittere to send. See Mission. ] 1. To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to intrust; to consign; -- used with to, unto. [ 1913 Webster ]

Commit thy way unto the Lord. Ps. xxxvii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bid him farewell, commit him to the grave. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To put in charge of a jailor; to imprison. [ 1913 Webster ]

These two were committed. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To do; to perpetrate, as a crime, sin, or fault. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt not commit adultery. Ex. xx. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To join for a contest; to match; -- followed by with. [ R. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To pledge or bind; to compromise, expose, or endanger by some decisive act or preliminary step; -- often used reflexively; as, to commit one's self to a certain course. [ 1913 Webster ]

You might have satisfied every duty of political friendship, without commiting the honor of your sovereign. Junius. [ 1913 Webster ]

Any sudden assent to the proposal . . . might possibly be considered as committing the faith of the United States. Marshall. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To confound. [ An obsolete Latinism. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Committing short and long [ quantities ]. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

To commit a bill (Legislation), to refer or intrust it to a committee or others, to be considered and reported. --
To commit to memory, or
To commit, to learn by heart; to memorize.

Syn. -- To Commit, Intrust, Consign. These words have in common the idea of transferring from one's self to the care and custody of another. Commit is the widest term, and may express only the general idea of delivering into the charge of another; as, to commit a lawsuit to the care of an attorney; or it may have the special sense of intrusting with or without limitations, as to a superior power, or to a careful servant, or of consigning, as to writing or paper, to the flames, or to prison. To intrust denotes the act of committing to the exercise of confidence or trust; as, to intrust a friend with the care of a child, or with a secret. To consign is a more formal act, and regards the thing transferred as placed chiefly or wholly out of one's immediate control; as, to consign a pupil to the charge of his instructor; to consign goods to an agent for sale; to consign a work to the press. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose.
Syn. -- commitment. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. The act of committing, or putting in charge, keeping, or trust; consignment; esp., the act of committing to prison. [ 1913 Webster ]

They were glad to compound for his bare commitment to the Tower, whence he was within few days enlarged. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A warrant or order for the imprisonment of a person; -- more frequently termed a mittimus. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of referring or intrusting to a committee for consideration and report; as, the commitment of a petition or a bill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A doing, or perpetration, in a bad sense, as of a crime or blunder; commission. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The act of pledging or engaging; the act of exposing, endangering, or compromising; also, the state of being pledged or engaged. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being committed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of committing, or the state of being committed; commitment. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. Bound or obligated, as under a pledge to a particular cause, action, or attitude. Opposite of uncommitted. [ Narrower terms: bound up, involved, wrapped up; dedicated, devoted; pledged, sworn ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Associated in an exclusive sexual relationship; also called attached. Opposite of unattached. [ Narrower terms: affianced, bespoken, betrothed, engaged, pledged, promised(predicate); married ] [ Also See: loving. ]
Syn. -- attached. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. Consigned involuntarily to custody, as in a prison or mental institution. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. OF. comité company, and LL. comitatus jurisdiction or territory of a count, county, assize, army. The word was apparently influenced by the verb commit, but not directly formed from it. Cf. County. ] One or more persons elected or appointed, to whom any matter or business is referred, either by a legislative body, or by a court, or by any collective body of men acting together. [ 1913 Webster ]

Committee of the whole [ house ], a committee, embracing all the members present, into which a legislative or deliberative body sometimes resolves itself, for the purpose of considering a particular measure under the operation of different rules from those governing the general legislative proceedings. The committee of the whole has its own chairman, and reports its action in the form of recommendations. --
Standing committee. See under Standing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Commit, v. t. ] (Law) One to whom the charge of the person or estate of another, as of a lunatic, is committed by suitable authority; a guardian. [ 1913 Webster ]