commit

present singular third person commits · participle present committing · participle past committed · past committed · first person past singular committed · archaic present second person singular committest · past second person singular committed · archaic past second person singular committedst · present singular third person commits · archaic present singular third person committeth · past singular third person committed · past plural committed · past subjunctive committed · participle present committing · participle past committed

1. transitiveTo give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto.

   Commit these numbers to memory.

   4 more examples

   Bid him farwell, commit him to the Graue,

   c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 52, column 1

   Commit thy way vnto the Lord: trust also in him, and he shall bring it to passe.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 37:5

   If we take in hand any Volume; of Divinity or School Metaphyſics, for Inſtance; let us aſk, Does it contain any abſtract Reaſonings concerning Quantity or Number? No. Does it contain any experimental Reaſonings concerning Matters of Fact or Exiſtence? No. Commit it then to the Flames: For it can contain nothing but Sophiſtry and Illuſion.

   1748, [David Hume], “Essay XII. Of the Academical or Sceptical Philosophy.”, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, part III, page 256

   That, as one of my more sceptical industry insiders put it, is because there is a reluctance to commit funds to any of these plans - and we can put the blame firmly on the fact that HS2 is eating up £7bn per year for the whole term of this parliament.

   2026 March 18, Christian Wolmar, “Wales sets example with long-term rail strategy”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 43

2. transitiveTo imprison: to forcibly place in a jail.

   and ſome of the Conſpirators committed to the Caſtle of Dublin by us

   1641, A Great Conspiracy by the Papiſts in the Kingdome of Ireland, Diſcovered by the Lords Juſtices, and Counſell at Dublin, and Proclaimed There Octob. 23, 1641, page 2

3. transitiveTo forcibly evaluate and treat in a medical facility, particularly for presumed mental illness.

   Tony should be committed to a nuthouse!

   Synonyms: 5150, section

4. transitiveTo do (something bad); to perpetrate, as a crime, sin, or fault.

   to commit murder

   3 more examples

   to commit a series of heinous crimes

   to commit suicide

   (also see usage notes)

   Thou shalt not commit adultery.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 20:4

5. ambitransitiveTo pledge or bind; to compromise, expose, or endanger by some decisive act or preliminary step. (Traditionally used only reflexively but now also without oneself etc.)

   to commit to a relationship

   5 more examples

   to commit oneself to a certain action

   8 March, 1769, Junius, letter to the Duke of Grafton You might have satisfied every duty of political friendship, without committing the honour of your sovereign.

   [The general cautioned] both these officers against any sudden assent they might inadvertently give to the proposal, if made to them also, which might possibly be considered as committing the faith of the United States.

   1805, John Marshall, chapter VII, in The Life of George Washington, […], volume III, Philadelphia, Pa.: […] C. P. Wayne, →OCLC, page 387

   […] the perennial bachelor and “the single woman who has never married, who is afraid to commit to an apartment, because she's afraid if she somehow commits to a studio or one-bedroom then she's never going to get married,” said Julie Friedman, a senior associate broker at Bellmarc Realty.

   2005 July 31, Teri Karush Rogers, quoting Julie Friedman, “Fear of Committing?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Nov 2021

   And what actinic, mind-wrenching form could the countermeme take? How could human hands assemble something so devastatingly powerful and hold it steady; what human mind could wield it without exploding from the inside out? What would deploying that concept in anger do to human ideatic space? How far out from the solution is modern memetic science, a year, a century? What insane impossibility has Hughes just committed himself to?

   2019 December 9, qntm, “Wild Light”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, pages 191–192

6. transitivecomputingTo make a set of changes permanent.

   When all SQL statements in the transaction are executed successfully, the transaction is committed and all the work that the SQL statements performed is made a permanent part of the database.

   2005, Thearon Willis, Beginning Visual Basic 2005 Databases, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 343

7. transitivecomputingTo integrate new revisions into the public or master version of a file in a version control system.

   We can commit all unstaged files with one command: […]

   2014, Wlodzimierz Gajda, Git Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach, Apress, →ISBN, page 86

   Synonyms: check in

8. intransitiveobsoleteTo enter into a contest; to match; often followed by with.

   […]whilst it commits us in hostility with the three greatest military powers of the empire.

   1877 [1804 March 4], Lord Castlereagh, quotee, “part II, chapter VII”, in Sidney James Owen, editor, Selection from the Despatches, Treaties, and Other Papers of the Marquess Wellesley […] , Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 263

   2 more examples

   For, in theſe ſtrifes, and on ſuch perſons, were as wretched to affect a victorie, as it is vnhappy to be committed with them.

   1616, Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Poetaster. [To the Reader.]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, →OCLC, page 348

   […]and from hence ( as when Fire and Water are committed together ) ariſeth a most troubleſome conflict.

   1677, Richard Gilpin, “part II, chapter VII”, in Dæmonologia Sacra, London: J. D., page 313

9. actingTo make decisions that effectively convey elements of character.

   To make this scene land, you really have to commit.

10. LatinismobsoletetransitiveTo confound.

    Harry whoſe tuneful and well meaſur'd Song / Firſt taught our Engliſh Muſick how to ſpan / Words with juſt note and accent, not to ſcan / With Midas Ears, committing ſhort and long;

    1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XIII. To Mr. H. Lawes, on his Aires.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC, page 57

11. intransitiveobsoleteTo commit an offence; especially, to fornicate.

    the sonne might one day bee found committing with his mother[…].

    1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter XII, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

    1 more example

    [K]eepe thy words Iusſtice, ſweare not, commit not, with mans ſworne Spouſe;

    c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], pages 297–298, column 2

12. intransitiveobsoleteTo be committed or perpetrated; to take place; to occur.

    1 more example

    As a vaſt Herd of Cows in a rich Farmer's Yard, if, while they are milked, they hear their Calves at a Diſtance, lamenting the Robbery which is then committing, roar and bellow: So roared forth the Somerſetſhire Mob an Hallaloo, made up of almoſt as many Squawls, Screams, and other different Sounds, as there were Perſons, or indeed Paſſions, among them: […]

    1749, Henry Fielding, chapter VIII, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 51

plural commits

1. computingThe act of committing (e.g. a database transaction), making it a permanent change; such a change.

   Every Git commit represents a single, atomic changeset with respect to the previous state.

   2009, Jon Loeliger, Version Control with Git

   1 more example

   To support locking and process synchronization independently of transaction commits, the server provides semaphore objects[…]

   1988, Klaus R Dittrich, Advances in Object-Oriented Database Systems: 2nd International Workshop

2. computingThe submission of source code or other material to a source control repository.

   Synonyms: check-in

3. USinformalotherwise proscribedhobbiesA person, especially a high school athlete, who agrees verbally or signs a letter committing to attend a college or university.