Part 2155

<blockquote><b>Commit</b> thy way unto the Lord. <i>Ps. xxxvii. 5.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Bid him farewell, <b>commit</b> him to the grave. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To put in charge of a jailor; to imprison.</def>

<blockquote>These two were <b>commited</b>. <i>Clarendon.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>To do; to perperate, as a crime, sin, or fault.</def>

<blockquote>Thou shalt not <b>commit</b> adultery. <i>Ex. xx. 14.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>To join a contest; to match; -- followed by <i>with</i>.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<i>Dr. H. More.</i>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>To pledge or bind; to compromise, expose, or endanger by some decisive act or preliminary step; -- often used reflexively; <as>as, to <ex>commit</ex> one's self to a certain course</as>.</def>

<blockquote>You might have satisfied every duty of political friendship, without <b>commiting</b> the honor of your sovereign. <i>Junius.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Any sudden assent to the proposal . . . might possibly be considered as <b>committing</b> the faith of the United States. <i>Marshall.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>To confound.</def> <mark>[An obsolete Latinism.]</mark>

<blockquote><b>Committing</b> short and long [quantities]. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<cs><col>To commit a bill</col> <fld>(Legislation)</fld>, <cd>to refer or intrust it to a committee or others, to be considered and reported.</cd> -- <mcol><col>To commit to memory</col>, &or; <col>To commit</col></mcol>, <cd>to learn by heart; to memorize.</cd></cs>

<syn>Syn. -- <er>To Commit</er>, <er>Intrust</er>, <er>Consign</er>.</syn> <usage> These words have in common the idea of transferring from one's self to the care and custody of another. <i>Commit</i> is the widest term, and may express only the general idea of delivering into the charge of another; as, to <i>commit</i> 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 <i>intrust</i> denotes the act of committing to the exercise of confidence or trust; as, to <i>intrust</i> a friend with the care of a child, or with a secret. To <i>consign</i> is a more formal act, and regards the thing transferred as placed chiefly or wholly out of one's immediate control; as, to <i>consign</i> a pupil to the charge of his instructor; to <i>consign</i> goods to an agent for sale; to <i>consign</i> a work to the press.</usage>

<h1>Commit</h1> <Xpage=284>

<hw>Com"mit</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <def>To sin; esp., to be incontinent.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote><b>Commit</b> not with man's sworn spouse. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Commitment</h1> <Xpage=284>

<hw>Com*mit"ment</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The act of commiting, or putting in charge, keeping, or trust; consigment; esp., the act of commiting to prison.</def>

<blockquote>They were glad to compound for his bare <b>commitment</b> to the Tower, whence he was within few days enlarged. <i>Clarendon.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A warrant or order for the imprisonment of a person; -- more frequently termed a <i>mittimus</i>.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>The act of referring or intrusting to a committee for consideration and report; <as>as, the <ex>commitment</ex> of a petition or a bill</as>.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>A doing, or preperation, in a bad sense, as of a crime or blunder; commission.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>The act of pledging or engaging; the act of exposing, endangering, or compromising; also, the state of being pledged or engaged.</def>

<i>Hamilton.</i>

<h1>Committable</h1> <Xpage=284>

<hw>Com*mit"ta*ble</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Capable of being committed.</def>