Hidebound

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈhaɪd.baÊŠnd/

Alternative forms

• hide-bound less common

Origin

hide("animal skin") + bound("tied")

Full definition of hidebound

Adjective

1. Bound with the hide of an animal.
• 1992, Winifred Barr Rothenberg, From Market-places to a Market Economy: The Transformation of Rural Massachusetts, 1750-1850, Open the box in which his large hidebound book is kept. The faint smell of manure, over 150 years old, still rises from thick yellowing pages, and you begin to live his life.
• 1992, T. O. Madden, We Were Always Free: A 200-Year Family History, But no matter where their place of residence, they were always accompanied by the hidebound chest that held the family papers.
2. (of a domestic animal) Having the skin adhering so closely to the ribs and back as not to be easily loosened or raised; emaciated.
3. (of trees) Having the bark so close and constricting that it impedes the growth.
4. (of a person) Stubborn; narrow-minded; inflexible.
5. (obsolete) Niggardly; penurious; stingy.