bound1

[bound] /baʊnd/
verb
1.
simple past tense and past participle of bind.
adjective
2.
tied; in bonds:
a bound prisoner.
3.
made fast as if by a band or bond:
She is bound to her family.
4.
secured within a cover, as a book.
5.
under a legal or moral obligation:
He is bound by the terms of the contract.
6.
destined; sure; certain:
It is bound to happen.
7.
determined or resolved:
He is bound to go.
8.
Pathology, constipated.
9.
Mathematics. (of a vector) having a specified initial point as well as magnitude and direction.
Compare free (def 31).
10.
held with another element, substance, or material in chemical or physical union.
11.
(of a linguistic form) occurring only in combination with other forms, as most affixes.
Compare free (def 34).
Idioms
12.
bound up in / with,
  1. inseparably connected with.
  2. devoted or attached to:
    She is bound up in her teaching.
Origin
past participle and past tense of bind
Related forms
boundness, noun
Synonyms
5. liable, obligated, obliged, compelled.

bound2

[bound] /baʊnd/
verb (used without object)
1.
to move by leaps; leap; jump; spring:
The colt bounded through the meadow.
2.
to rebound, as a ball; bounce:
The ball bounded against the wall.
noun
3.
a leap onward or upward; jump.
4.
a rebound; bounce.
Origin
1545-55; < Middle French bond a leap, bondir to leap, orig. resound ≪ Vulgar Latin *bombitīre for *bombitāre to buzz, whiz (Latin bomb(us) (see bomb) + -it- intensive suffix + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix)
Related forms
boundingly, adverb
Synonyms
1. See skip1 .

bound3

[bound] /baʊnd/
noun
1.
Usually, bounds. limit or boundary:
the bounds of space and time; within the bounds of his estate; within the bounds of reason.
2.
something that limits, confines, or restrains.
3.
bounds.
  1. territories on or near a boundary.
  2. land within boundary lines.
4.
Mathematics. a number greater than or equal to, or less than or equal to, all the numbers in a given set.
Compare greatest lower bound, least upper bound, lower bound, upper bound.
verb (used with object)
5.
to limit by or as if by bounds; keep within limits or confines.
6.
to form the boundary or limit of.
7.
to name or list the boundaries of.
verb (used without object)
8.
to abut.
Idioms
9.
out of bounds,
  1. beyond the official boundaries, prescribed limits, or restricted area:
    The ball bounced out of bounds.
  2. forbidden; prohibited:
    The park is out of bounds to students.
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English bounde < Anglo-French; Old French bone, bonde, variant of bodne < Medieval Latin budina, of uncertain origin; cf. bourn2
Related forms
boundable, adjective
Synonyms
1. border, frontier, confine.

bound4

[bound] /baʊnd/
adjective
1.
going or intending to go; on the way to; destined (usually followed by for):
The train is bound for Denver.
2.
Archaic. prepared; ready.
Origin
1150-1200; Middle English b(o)un ready < Old Norse būinn, past participle of būa to get ready

-bound1

1.
a combining form of bound1 :
snowbound.

-bound2

1.
a combining form of bound4 :
eastbound.

bind

[bahynd] /baɪnd/
verb (used with object), bound, binding.
1.
to fasten or secure with a band or bond.
2.
to encircle with a band or ligature:
She bound her hair with a ribbon.
3.
to swathe or bandage (often followed by up):
to bind up one's wounds.
4.
to fasten around; fix in place by girding:
They bound his hands behind him.
5.
to tie up (anything, as sheaves of grain).
6.
to cause to cohere:
Ice bound the soil.
7.
to unite by any legal or moral tie:
to be bound by a contract.
8.
to hold to a particular state, place, employment, etc.:
Business kept him bound to the city.
9.
to place under obligation or compulsion (usually used passively):
We are bound by good sense to obey the country's laws.
10.
Law. to put under legal obligation, as to keep the peace or appear as a witness (often followed by over):
This action binds them to keep the peace. He was bound over to the grand jury.
11.
to make compulsory or obligatory:
to bind the order with a deposit.
12.
to fasten or secure within a cover, as a book:
They will bind the new book in leather.
13.
to cover the edge of, as for protection or ornament:
to bind a carpet.
14.
(of clothing) to chafe or restrict (the wearer):
This shirt binds me under the arms.
15.
Medicine/Medical. to hinder or restrain (the bowels) from their natural operations; constipate.
16.
to indenture as an apprentice (often followed by out):
In his youth his father bound him to a blacksmith.
verb (used without object), bound, binding.
17.
to become compact or solid; cohere.
18.
to be obligatory:
an obligation that binds.
19.
to chafe or restrict, as poorly fitting garments:
This jacket binds through the shoulders.
20.
to stick fast, as a drill in a hole.
21.
Falconry. (of a hawk) to grapple or grasp prey firmly in flight.
noun
22.
the act or process of binding; the state or instance of being bound.
23.
something that binds.
24.
Music. a tie, slur, or brace.
25.
Falconry. the act of binding.
26.
Informal. a difficult situation or predicament:
This schedule has us in a bind.
Verb phrases
27.
bind off, Textiles. to loop (one stitch) over another in making an edge on knitted fabric.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English binden (v.), Old English bindan; cognate with Old High German bintan, Old Norse binda, Gothic bindan, Sanskrit bandhati (he) binds
Related forms
bindable, adjective
misbind, verb, misbound, misbinding.
rebind, verb, rebound, rebinding.
Can be confused
bind, bound.
Synonyms
1. gird, attach, tie. 2. confine, restrain. 9. engage, oblige, obligate.
Antonyms
1. untie.
Examples from the web for bound
  • Unusually large and heavy books are sometimes bound with wire or cable.
  • Paperback or soft cover books are also normally bound using perfect binding.
  • After all, they were still bound by strict requirements of honour and customs.
  • Is the net current that penetrates through the surface s, both bound and free.
  • Established rituals and laws, but people are bound and are not free.
  • Despite his misgivings, he feels himself bound by his obligations to obey the captain.
  • Therefore, the zombies he revived were not necessarily bound to his will.
  • This left him wheelchair bound, forcing him off the road for over half a year.
  • He is quicktempered, more bound to violent outbursts than other characters.
  • Once the urushiol poison has had contact with the skin, it is quickly bound to the skin.
British Dictionary definitions for bound

bound1

/baʊnd/
verb
1.
the past tense and past participle of bind
adjective
2.
in bonds or chains; tied with or as if with a rope: a bound prisoner
3.
(in combination) restricted; confined: housebound, fogbound
4.
(postpositive, foll by an infinitive) destined; sure; certain: it's bound to happen
5.
(postpositive) , often foll by by. compelled or obliged to act, behave, or think in a particular way, as by duty, circumstance, or convention
6.
(of a book) secured within a cover or binding: to deliver bound books See also half-bound
7.
(US) (postpositive) , foll by on. resolved; determined: bound on winning
8.
(linguistics)
  1. denoting a morpheme, such as the prefix non-, that occurs only as part of another word and not as a separate word in itself Compare free (sense 21)
  2. (in systemic grammar) denoting a clause that has a nonfinite predicator or that is introduced by a binder, and that occurs only together with a freestanding clause Compare freestanding
9.
(logic) (of a variable) occurring within the scope of a quantifier that indicates the degree of generality of the open sentence in which the variable occurs: in (x) (Fx → bxy), x is bound and y is free See free (sense 22)
10.
bound up with, closely or inextricably linked with: his irritability is bound up with his work
11.
I'll be bound, I am sure (something) is true

bound2

/baʊnd/
verb
1.
to move forwards or make (one's way) by leaps or jumps
2.
to bounce; spring away from an impact
noun
3.
a jump upwards or forwards
4.
by leaps and bounds, with unexpectedly rapid progess: her condition improved by leaps and bounds
5.
a sudden pronounced sense of excitement: his heart gave a sudden bound when he saw her
6.
a bounce, as of a ball
Word Origin
C16: from Old French bond a leap, from bondir to jump, resound, from Vulgar Latin bombitīre (unattested) to buzz, hum, from Latin bombus booming sound

bound3

/baʊnd/
verb
1.
(transitive) to place restrictions on; limit
2.
when intr, foll by on. to form a boundary of (an area of land or sea, political or administrative region, etc)
noun
3.
(maths)
  1. a number which is greater than all the members of a set of numbers (an upper bound), or less than all its members (a lower bound) See also bounded (sense 1)
  2. more generally, an element of an ordered set that has the same ordering relation to all the members of a given subset
  3. whence, an estimate of the extent of some set
4.
See bounds
Word Origin
C13: from Old French bonde, from Medieval Latin bodina, of Gaulish origin

bound4

/baʊnd/
adjective
1.
  1. (postpositive) , often foll by for. going or intending to go towards; on the way to: a ship bound for Jamaica, homeward bound
  2. (in combination): northbound traffic
Word Origin
C13: from Old Norse buinn, past participle of būa to prepare

bind

/baɪnd/
verb binds, binding, bound
1.
to make or become fast or secure with or as if with a tie or band
2.
(transitive) often foll by up. to encircle or enclose with a band: to bind the hair
3.
(transitive) to place (someone) under obligation; oblige
4.
(transitive) to impose legal obligations or duties upon (a person or party to an agreement)
5.
(transitive) to make (a bargain, agreement, etc) irrevocable; seal
6.
(transitive) to restrain or confine with or as if with ties, as of responsibility or loyalty
7.
(transitive) to place under certain constraints; govern
8.
(transitive) often foll by up. to bandage or swathe: to bind a wound
9.
to cohere or stick or cause to cohere or stick: egg binds fat and flour
10.
to make or become compact, stiff, or hard: frost binds the earth
11.
  1. (transitive) to enclose and fasten (the pages of a book) between covers
  2. (intransitive) (of a book) to undergo this process
12.
(transitive) to provide (a garment, hem, etc) with a border or edging, as for decoration or to prevent fraying
13.
(transitive; sometimes foll by out or over) to employ as an apprentice; indenture
14.
(intransitive) (slang) to complain
15.
(transitive) (logic) to bring (a variable) into the scope of an appropriate quantifier See also bound1 (sense 9)
noun
16.
something that binds
17.
the act of binding or state of being bound
18.
(informal) a difficult or annoying situation
19.
another word for bine
20.
(music) another word for tie (sense 17)
21.
(mining) clay between layers of coal
22.
(fencing) a pushing movement with the blade made to force one's opponent's sword from one line into another
23.
(chess) a position in which one player's pawns have a hold on the centre that makes it difficult for the opponent to advance there
See also bind over
Word Origin
Old English bindan; related to Old Norse binda, Old High German bintan, Latin offendixband², Sanskrit badhnāti he binds
Word Origin and History for bound
adj.

"fastened," mid-14c., in figurative sense of "compelled," from bounden, past participle of bind (v.). Meaning "under obligation" is from late 15c.; the literal sense "made fast by tying" is the latest recorded (1550s).

"ready to go," c.1200, boun, from Old Norse buinn past participle of bua "to prepare," also "to dwell, to live," from Proto-Germanic *bowan (cf. Old High German buan "to dwell," Old Danish both "dwelling, stall"), from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, dwell" (see be). Final -d is presumably through association with bound (adj.1).

n.

"limit," c.1200, from Anglo-Latin bunda, from Old French bonde "limit, boundary, boundary stone" (12c., Modern French borne), variant of bodne, from Medieval Latin bodina, perhaps from Gaulish. Now chiefly in out of bounds, which originally referred to limits imposed on students at schools.

v.

"to form the boundary of," also "to set the boundaries of," late 14c., from bound (n.). Related: Bounded; bounding.

"to leap," 1580s, from French bondir "to rebound, resound, echo," from Old French bondir "to leap, rebound; make a noise, beat (a drum)," 13c., ultimately "to echo back," from Vulgar Latin *bombitire "to buzz, hum" (see bomb (n.)), perhaps on model of Old French tentir, from Vulgar Latin *tinnitire.

bind

v.

Old English bindan "to tie up with bonds" (literally and figuratively), also "to make captive; to cover with dressings and bandages" (class III strong verb; past tense band, past participle bunden), from Proto-Germanic *bindan (cf. Old Saxon bindan, Old Norse and Old Frisian binda, Old High German binten "to bind," German binden, Gothic bindan), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind" (see bend). Intransitive sense of "stick together" is from 1670s. Of books, from c.1400.

n.

"anything that binds," in various senses, late Old English, from bind (v.). Meaning "tight or awkward situation" is from 1851.

bound in Science
bind
  (bīnd)   
To combine with, form a bond with, or be taken up by a chemical or chemical structure. An enzyme, for example, is structured in such a way as to be able to bind with its substrate.
Slang definitions & phrases for bound

bind

noun

A very tight and awkward situation; cleft stick; box, jam: This is a nasty sort of bind (mid-1800s+)

Related Terms

in a bind


Related Abbreviations for bound

BIND

Berkeley Internet Name Domain
Idioms and Phrases with bound

bound

also see:
also see under:
bind

bind

also see:
in a bind
also see under:
bound