Adjacent Words

Indulge definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INDULGE, v.t. indulj'. [L. indulgeo; tolero.]
1. To permit to be or to continue; to suffer; not to restrain or oppose; as, to indulge sloth; to indulge the passions; to indulge pride, selfishness or inclinations.
2. To gratify, negatively; not to check or restrain the will, appetite or desire; as, to indulge children in amusements.
3. To gratify, positively; to grant something not of right, but as a favor; to grant in compliance with wishes or desire.
Yet, yet a moment, one dim ray of light
Indulge, dread Chaos and eternal Night!
4. In general, to gratify; to favor; to humor; to yield to the wishes of; to withhold restraint from.
It is remarked by Johnson, that if the matter of indulgence is a single thing, it has with before it; if it is a habit, it has in. He indulged himself with a glass of wine; he indulges himself in sloth or intemperance.
INDULGE, v.t. indulj'. To permit to enjoy or practice; or to yield to the enjoyment or practice of, without restraint or control; as, to indulge in sin, or in sensual pleasure. This form of expression is elliptical, a pronoun being omitted; as, to indulge myself or himself.
Most men are more willing to indulge in easy vices, than to practice laborious virtues.
1. To yield; to comply; to be favorable. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: give free rein to; "The writer indulged in metaphorical language"
2: yield (to); give satisfaction to [syn: gratify, pander, indulge]
3: enjoy to excess; "She indulges in ice cream" [syn: indulge, luxuriate]
4: treat with excessive indulgence; "grandparents often pamper the children"; "Let's not mollycoddle our students!" [syn: pamper, featherbed, cosset, cocker, baby, coddle, mollycoddle, spoil, indulge]

Merriam Webster's

verb (indulged; indulging) Etymology: Latin indulg?re to be complaisant Date: circa 1623 transitive verb 1. a. to give free rein to b. to take unrestrained pleasure in ; gratify 2. a. to yield to the desire of ; humor <please indulge me for a moment> b. to treat with excessive leniency, generosity, or consideration intransitive verb to indulge oneself • indulger noun Synonyms: indulge, pamper, humor, spoil, baby, mollycoddle mean to show undue favor to a person's desires and feelings. indulge implies excessive compliance and weakness in gratifying another's or one's own desires <indulged myself with food at the slightest excuse>. pamper implies inordinate gratification of desire for luxury and comfort with consequent enervating effect <pampered by the amenities of modern living>. humor stresses a yielding to a person's moods or whims <humored him by letting him tell the story>. spoil stresses the injurious effects on character by indulging or pampering <foolish parents spoil their children>. baby suggests excessive care, attention, or solicitude <babying students by grading too easily>. mollycoddle suggests an excessive degree of care and attention to another's health or welfare <refused to mollycoddle her malingering son>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. (often foll. by in) take pleasure freely. 2 tr. yield freely to (a desire etc.). 3 tr. gratify the wishes of; favour (indulged them with money). 4 intr. colloq. take alcoholic liquor. Derivatives: indulger n. Etymology: L indulgere indult- give free rein to

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Indulge In*dulge", v. i. To indulge one's self; to gratify one's tastes or desires; esp., to give one's self up (to); to practice a forbidden or questionable act without restraint; -- followed by in, but formerly, also, by to. ``Willing to indulge in easy vices.'' --Johnson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Indulge In*dulge", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Indulged; p. pr. & vb. n. Indulging.] [L. indulgere to be kind or tender to one; cf. OIr. dilgud, equiv. to L. remissio, OIr. dligeth, equiv. to L. lex, Goth. dulgs debt.] 1. To be complacent toward; to give way to; not to oppose or restrain; (a) when said of a habit, desire, etc.: to give free course to; to give one's self up to; as, to indulge sloth, pride, selfishness, or inclinations; (b) when said of a person: to yield to the desire of; to gratify by compliance; to humor; to withhold restraint from; as, to indulge children in their caprices or willfulness; to indulge one's self with a rest or in pleasure. Hope in another life implies that we indulge ourselves in the gratifications of this very sparingly. --Atterbury. 2. To grant as by favor; to bestow in concession, or in compliance with a wish or request. Persuading us that something must be indulged to public manners. --Jer. Taylor. Yet, yet a moment, one dim ray of light Indulge, dread Chaos, and eternal Night! --Pope. Note: It is remarked by Johnson, that if the matter of indulgence is a single thing, it has with before it; if it is a habit, it has in; as, he indulged himself with a glass of wine or a new book; he indulges himself in idleness or intemperance. See Gratify.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(indulges, indulging, indulged) 1. If you indulge in something or if you indulge yourself, you allow yourself to have or do something that you know you will enjoy. Only rarely will she indulge in a glass of wine... He returned to Britain so that he could indulge his passion for football... You can indulge yourself without spending a fortune. VERB: V in n, V n, V pron-refl, also V 2. If you indulge someone, you let them have or do what they want, even if this is not good for them. He did not agree with indulging children. = spoil VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Gratify, satisfy, yield to, give free scope to, give a loose rein to, give way to, give one's self up to. 2. Humor excessively or to excess, yield to the wishes of, pamper, humor, favor, cocker, allow to follow one's appetites or caprices. 3. Allow, permit, suffer, harbor, foster, cherish. II. v. n. Indulge one's self.

Moby Thesaurus

accommodate with, adore, afford, appreciate, baby, bask, bask in, bay, be pleased with, bear, bear with, benignancy, benignity, blink at, brook, cater to, clemency, cocker, coddle, comply with, condone, connive at, cosset, countenance, courtesy, delight, delight in, derive pleasure from, devour, dispensation, eat up, endure, enjoy, favor, favor with, feast on, freak out on, furnish, gentleness, get high on, give way to, gloat over, gratify, groove on, have, heap upon, hear of, humor, indulge in, indulge with, indulgence, kindliness, kindness, lavish upon, lenience, leniency, like, live high, live well, love, luxuriate, luxuriate in, mercifulness, mildness, minister to, mollycoddle, much, oblige, overlook, pamper, pander to, please, pour on, provide, provide for, put up with, regale, rejoice in, relish, revel, revel in, riot in, roll, roll in, rollick, satisfy, savor, shower down upon, smack the lips, spoil, stand for, stomach, succumb to, suffer, supply, swim in, take pleasure in, tolerance, tolerate, toleration, treat to, wallow in, welter, wink at, yield to