Bound

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbaÊŠnd/
• Rhymes: -aÊŠnd

Alternative forms

• bownd archaic

See bind

Full definition of bound

Verb

1. bound

   (past of bind)
• 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 1, “… Captain Markam had been found lying half-insensible, gagged and bound, on the floor of the sitting-room, his hands and feet tightly pinioned, and a woollen comforter wound closely round his mouth and neck ; whilst Mrs. Markham's jewel-case, containing valuable jewellery and the secret plans of Port Arthur, had disappeared. â€¦â€
2. ''I bound the splint to my leg.''I had bound the splint with duct tape.

Adjective

1. (with infinitive) Obliged (to).
• 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 5, Then I had a good think on the subject of the hocussing of Cigarette, and I was reluctantly bound to admit that once again the man in the corner had found the only possible solution to the mystery.
2. You are not legally bound to reply.
3. (with infinitive) Very likely (to).
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 5, When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies.
4. They were bound to come into conflict eventually.
5. (linguistics, of a morpheme) That cannot stand alone as a free word.
6. (mathematics, logic, of a variable) Constrained by a quantifier.
7. (dated) constipated; costive

Antonyms

• (logic: constrained by a quantifier) free

Derived terms

• bound to
• I'll be bound

From Middle English bounde, from Old French bunne, from Medieval Latin bodina, earlier butina ("a bound, limit")

Noun

1. (often used in plural) A boundary, the border which one must cross in order to enter or leave a territory.I reached the northern bound of my property, took a deep breath and walked on.Somewhere within these bounds you may find a buried treasure.
2. (mathematics) a value which is known to be greater or smaller than a given set of values

Derived terms

Verb

1. To surround a territory or other geographical entity.''France, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra bound Spain.''Kansas is bounded by Nebraska on the north, Missouri on the east, Oklahoma on the south and Colorado on the west.
2. (mathematics) To be the boundary of.

Derived terms

From French bondir ("to leap, bound, originally make a loud resounding noise"); perhaps, from Late Latin bombitāre, present active infinitive of bombitō ("hum, buzz"), frequentive verb, from Latin bombus ("a humming or buzzing").

Noun

1. A sizeable jump, great leap.''The deer crossed the stream in a single bound.
2. A spring from one foot to the other in dancing.
3. (dated) A bounce; a rebound.the bound of a ball

Derived terms

• by leaps and bounds

Verb

1. (intransitive) To leap, move by jumping.''The rabbit bounded down the lane.
2. (transitive) To cause to leap.to bound a horse
3. (intransitive, dated) To rebound; to bounce.a rubber ball bounds on the floor
4. (transitive, dated) To cause to rebound; to throw so that it will rebound; to bounce.to bound a ball on the floor

Derived terms

• rebound

Alteration of boun, with -d partly for euphonic effect and partly by association with Etymology 1, above.

Adjective

1. (obsolete) ready, prepared.
2. ready, able to start or go (to); moving in the direction (of).''Which way are you bound?''Is that message bound for me?

Derived terms