Vows

noun
1.
a solemn promise, pledge, or personal commitment:
marriage vows; a vow of secrecy.
2.
a solemn promise made to a deity or saint committing oneself to an act, service, or condition.
3.
a solemn or earnest declaration.
verb (used with object)
4.
to make a vow of; promise by a vow, as to God or a saint:
to vow a crusade or a pilgrimage.
5.
to pledge or resolve solemnly to do, make, give, observe, etc.:
They vowed revenge.
6.
to declare solemnly or earnestly; assert emphatically (often followed by a clause as object):
She vowed that she would take the matter to court.
7.
to dedicate or devote by a vow:
to vow oneself to the service of God.
verb (used without object)
8.
to make a vow.
9.
to make a solemn or earnest declaration.
Idioms
10.
take vows, to enter a religious order or house.
noun
1.
a solemn or earnest pledge or promise binding the person making it to perform a specified act or behave in a certain way
2.
a solemn promise made to a deity or saint, by which the promiser pledges himself to some future act, course of action, or way of life
3.
take vows, to enter a religious order and commit oneself to its rule of life by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which may be taken for a limited period as simple vows or as a perpetual and still more solemn commitment as solemn vows
verb
4.
(transitive; may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to pledge, promise, or undertake solemnly: he vowed that he would continue, he vowed to return
5.
(transitive) to dedicate or consecrate to God, a deity, or a saint
6.
(transitive; usually takes a clause as object) to assert or swear emphatically
7.
(intransitive) (archaic) to declare solemnly

voluntary promises which, when once made, were to be kept if the thing vowed was right. They were made under a great variety of circumstances (Gen. 28: 18-22; Lev. 7:16; Num. 30:2-13; Deut. 23:18; Judg. 11:30, 39; 1 Sam. 1:11; Jonah 1:16; Acts 18:18; 21:23).