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commit

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90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

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verb

/kəˈmɪt/

present tense
I/you/we/they	commit
he/she/it	commits
present participle	committing
past tense	committed
past participle	committed

Get It Right!

1
[transitive] to do something illegal or morally wrong
commit a crime/an offence:
The study aims to find out what makes people commit crimes.
commit murder/a robbery etc:
conspiracy to commit murder
commit adultery:
He had admitted to committing adultery.
commit suicide:
Reports suggest that the singer committed suicide.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
2
[transitive] to make someone agree or promise to do something
commit someone to (doing) something:
The agreement commits them to a minimum number of performances per year.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
1. a.
  [intransitive] to promise to do something
  commit to (doing) something:
  He would have to commit to spending several thousand pounds.
  I do not want to commit to any particular date.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
3
[intransitive] to decide to have a permanent relationship with someone
He's not ready to commit.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
4
[transitive] to say that you will use available things or people for a particular purpose
commit something to something:
They'll have to commit more money to the project if it's to succeed.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
5
[transitive] to say officially that someone must go to prison
commit someone to something:
The judge committed the men to prison for contempt of court.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
6
[transitive] [usually passive] to officially state that someone is mentally ill and should go to a hospital to be treated
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
7
[transitive] formal to give someone or something to someone else to look after
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit

phrases

commit someone/something for trial
British
if a magistrate (=a judge in a lower court) commits a person or a case for trial, they send the person or case to a higher court
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
commit something to memory
to study something carefully so that you can remember it exactly
He committed the entire letter to memory.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
commit something to paper/writing
formal
to write something on paper
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
commit yourself
1. 1
  to agree to do something important
  Take a little time to think before committing yourself.
  commit yourself to (doing) something:
  I have committed myself to the task for at least the coming year.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
2. 2
  to decide to have a permanent relationship with someone
  commit yourself to:
  It was the first time in his life that he had committed himself to a woman.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit
3. 3
  to give a definite opinion or make a definite decision
  She won't commit herself either way.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of commit

Get It Right!: commit

Get it right: commit

Don't write the -ed and -ing forms of commit with only one 't'. The correct spellings are committed and committing:

✗ His wife went mad and commited suicide.

✓ His wife went mad and committed suicide.

The reason why the t is doubled in the -ed and -ing forms is that the stress falls on the final syllable of the verb in its infinitive form: commit.

The same rule applies to other verbs ending in 't' where the stress falls on the final syllable:

permit	permitted	permitting
admit	admitted	admitting
submit	submitted	submitting

When the stress does not fall on the final syllable, the -ed and -ing forms are spelled with one 't':

limit	limited	limiting
edit	edited	editing
prohibit	prohibited	prohibiting

Don't spell commit with only one 'm':

✗ A crime is comitted because the perpetrators want to attract attention.

✓ A crime is committed because the perpetrators want to attract attention.

This is the British English definition of commit. View American English definition of commit.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

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commit

What are red words?

Thesaurus

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phrases

commit someone/something for trial

commit something to memory

commit something to paper/writing

commit yourself

charticle

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never event