commit

To commit is to promise to do something, to describe the act of engaging in a crime or to hand over someone or something.

(verb)

An example of commit is when you promise your friend you will come to her wedding.
An example of commit is when you murder someone.
An example of commit is when you check a family member into a mental health facility.

See commit in Webster's New World College Dictionary

to give in charge or trust; deliver for safekeeping; entrust; consign: we commit his fame to posterity
to put officially in custody or confinement: committed to prison
to hand over or set apart to be disposed of or put to some purpose: to commit something to the trash heap
to do or perpetrate (an offense or crime)
to bind as by a promise; pledge; engage: committed to the struggle
to make known the opinions or views of: to commit oneself on an issue
to refer (a bill, etc.) to a committee to be considered

Origin: ME committen < L committere, to bring together, commit < com-, together + mittere, to send: see mission

intransitive verb

Informal to make a pledge or promise: often with to

Related Forms:

See commit in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb com·mit·ted, com·mit·ting, com·mits

verb, transitive

To do, perform, or perpetrate: commit a murder.
To put in trust or charge; entrust: commit oneself to the care of a doctor; commit responsibilities to an assistant.
To place officially in confinement or custody, as in a mental health facility.
To consign for future use or reference or for preservation: commit the secret code to memory.
To put into a place to be kept safe or to be disposed of.
a. To make known the views of (oneself) on an issue: I never commit myself on such issues.
b. To bind or obligate, as by a pledge: They were committed to follow orders.
To refer (a legislative bill, for example) to a committee.