promise

plural promises · alternative obsolete promyse

1. countableAn oath or affirmation; a vow.

   When I make a promise, I always stick to it.

   2 more examples

   I asked him not to, and we all heard his promise that he wouldn't.

   He broke his promise: he said he'd return my jewellery, but never did.

2. countablelawA transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to their use.

   He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.

   1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548

3. countableSomething promised.

   That jewelry was a promise to me.

4. uncountableReason to expect improvement or success; potential.

   She shows great promise as an actress.

   5 more examples

   His grade are poor, but I see promise in him.

   Your claim has little promise in court.

   My native country was full of youthful promise.

   1819 June 23 – 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “(please specify the title)”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC

   The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   The dream of a Northwest Passage lured European explorers for centuries with the promise of a quick, if hazardous, Arctic sea route across the New World to the wealth of Asia.

   1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 586

5. countablecomputingA placeholder object representing the eventual result of an asynchronous operation.

   You can often use observables instead of promises to deliver values asynchronously.

   2023 August 25, “Observables compared to other techniques”, in Angular 17 documentation, Google

6. countableobsoleteBestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.

   It is time they receive their promise.

   1 more example

   He […] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 1:4

present singular third person promises · participle present promising · participle past promised · past promised · alternative obsolete promyse

1. ambitransitiveditransitiveTo commit to (some action or outcome), or to assure (a person) of such commitment; to make an oath or vow.

   She promised to never return to this town again.

   5 more examples

   "You think that I'll take anything." "I know you will, sweet." … "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be." "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.

   1936 Aug., Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", Cosmopolitan

   Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

   2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70

   If you promise not to tell anyone, I will let you have this cake for free.

   He promised me a big kiss if I would drive him to the airport.

   I can't promise success, but I'll do the best I can.

2. ambitransitiveTo give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.

   The clouds promise rain.

   1 more example

   I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

1. A female given name from English.