Vow
[vaʊ]
Definition
(noun.) a solemn pledge (to oneself or to another or to a deity) to do something or to behave in a certain manner; 'they took vows of poverty'.
(verb.) make a vow; promise; 'He vowed never to drink alcohol again'.
(verb.) dedicate to a deity by a vow.
Checker: Max--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A solemn promise made to God, or to some deity; an act by which one consecrates or devotes himself, absolutely or conditionally, wholly or in part, for a longer or shorter time, to some act, service, or condition; a devotion of one's possessions; as, a baptismal vow; a vow of poverty.
(n.) Specifically, a promise of fidelity; a pledge of love or affection; as, the marriage vow.
(n.) To give, consecrate, or dedicate to God, or to some deity, by a solemn promise; to devote; to promise solemnly.
(n.) To assert solemnly; to asseverate.
(v. i.) To make a vow, or solemn promise.
Editor: Wendell
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Promise (solemnly made), pledge.
v. a. Consecrate, dedicate, devote.
v. n. Promise (solemnly), pledge one's word.
Typist: Rachel
Definition
n. a voluntary promise made to God and as such carrying with it the most stringent obligation to its fulfilment: a solemn or formal promise of fidelity or affection: (Shak.) a positive assertion.—v.t. to give by solemn promise: to devote: to threaten to maintain solemnly.—v.i. to make vows.—n. Vow′-fell′ow (Shak.) one bound by the same vow.—Baptismal vows the promises made at baptism by the person baptised or by the sponsors or parents in his name; Monastic vows (see Monastery); Solemn as opposed to Simple vows such vows as the Church takes under her special charge or is said in a solemn manner to accept as those of poverty obedience and chastity involving complete and irrevocable surrender.
Typist: Montague
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream that you are making or listening to vows, foretells complaint will be made against you of unfaithfulness in business, or some love contract. To take the vows of a church, denotes you will bear yourself with unswerving integrity through some difficulty. To break or ignore a vow, foretells disastrous consequences will attend your dealings.
Typed by Carla
Examples
- As to dressing, I make this vow: I'll never dress more finely than as you see me at present. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- But no love shines on her brow, Nor breaks she a marriage-vow, Love is colder. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- In his last illness, he had it brought continually to his bedside; and but an hour before he died, he bound me by vow to keep the creature. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I am bound by my vow to do so, replied the knight; but I would willingly know who you are, who request my assistance in their behalf? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- I vow to Saint Nicholas of Limoges a candlestick of pure gold-- Spare thy vow, said the Templar, and mark me. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- But the vow had been part of the bargain by which he secured the support of Pope Innocent III in his election as emperor. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Now, Pa, attend to what I am going to say, and promise and vow to be obedient. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Moreover, a priest is a man vowed, trained, and consecrated, a man belonging to a special corps, and necessarily with an intense _esprit de corps_. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I vowed to myself I would see them all to the devil. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- I vowed that, come what might, it should be a secret no longer. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Some day it may be we shall see a new order of Jesuits, vowed not to the service of the Pope, but to the service of mankind. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- You have promised and vowed. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- I have vowed not to go back, Eustacia. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I had vowed to my own heart never to shadow her countenance even with transient grief, and should I prove recreant at the hour of greatest need? Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- God knows, I put my trust in his vows, and believe his asserted faith--but for that, I would not seek what I am now resolved to attain. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- But now--that little BUT passed like a sponge over all his vows. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- His final method of taking his vows marks him the countryman of Don Quixote. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- After all our debatings and difficulties, we find there is nothing that will suit us altogether so well, nothing so unexceptionable, as Lovers' Vows. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- Nay, said the Friar, if thou dost retract vows made in favour of holy Church, thou must do penance. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- A man vows, and yet will not cast away the means of breaking his vow. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Lovers' Vows were at an end, and Lord and Lady Ravenshaw left to act My Grandmother by themselves. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- There's a hackney-coachman downstairs with a black eye, and a tied-up head, vowing he'll have the law of you. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Legree, cursing his ill luck, and vowing dire vengeance on the morrow, went to bed. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Edited by Fred