comply

present singular third person complies · participle present complying · participle past complied · past complied

1. To yield assent; to accord; to acquiesce, agree, consent; to adapt oneself, to conform.

   comply fully

   5 more examples

   comply with rules

   failure to comply

   All workers must comply with safety regulations.

   He refused to comply with their demands.

   Maſters commands come with a power reſiſtleſs / To ſuch as owe them abſolute ſubjection; / And for a life who will not change his purpoſe? / (So mutable are all the ways of men) / Yet this be ſure, in nothing to comply / Scandalous or forbidden in our Law.

   1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 83, lines 415–420

   Synonyms: give way, humor, accede, agree, allow, cave in, come around, come round · Antonyms: violate

2. archaicTo accomplish, to fulfil.First known use late 16th c.

   Gentle Abrahen, I / am griev'd my power cannot comply my promiſe: / my Father's ſo averſe from granting my / requeſt concerning thee, that with angrie frowns / he did expreſs rather a paſſionate rage, / then a refuſall civil, or accuſtom'd / to his indulgent diſpoſition.

   1654, attributed to George Chapman, now believed to be by Henry Glapthorne, Revenge for Honour. A Tragedie, London: Printed for Richard Marriot, […], →OCLC; republished London: Printed for Humphrey Moseley, […], 1659, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 22

   Synonyms: carry out, consummate

3. archaicTo be ceremoniously courteous; to make one's compliments.

   [Y]our hands come then, th’appurtenance of welcome is faſhion and ceremonie; let mee comply with you in this garb, let me^([sic – meaning lest my]) extent to the players, which I tell you muſt ſhowe fairely outwards, ſhould more appeare like entertainment than yours: […]

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

4. archaicTo enfold; to embrace.

   And then a rug of carded wooll, / Which, spunge-like, drinking in the dull / Light of the moon, seem'd to comply, / Cloud-like, the daintie deitie.

   1648, Robert Herrick, “Oberon’s Palace”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine of Robert Herrick Esq., London: Printed for John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC; republished in The Works of Robert Herrick, volume I, Edinburgh: Reprinted for W[illiam] and C[harles] Tait, 1823, →OCLC, page 234