obey
[ oh-bey ]
/ oʊˈbeɪ /
verb (used with object)
to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of: to obey one's parents.
to comply with or follow (a command, restriction, wish, instruction, etc.).
(of things) to respond conformably in action to: The car obeyed the slightest touch of the steering wheel.
to submit or conform in action to (some guiding principle, impulse, one's conscience, etc.).
verb (used without object)
to be obedient: to agree to obey.
QUIZZES
HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!
Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
Origin of obey
1250–1300; Middle English obeien < Old French obeir < Latin oboedīre, equivalent to ob- ob- + audīre to hear; -oe- for expected -ū- is unclear
OTHER WORDS FROM obey
Words nearby obey
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for obey
British Dictionary definitions for obey
obey
/ (əˈbeɪ) /
verb
to carry out (instructions or orders); comply with (demands)
to behave or act in accordance with (one's feelings, whims, etc)
Derived forms of obey
obeyer, nounWord Origin for obey
C13: from Old French obéir, from Latin oboedīre, from ob- to, towards + audīre to hear
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012