bound Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a line determining the limits of an area
    boundary; edge.
  2. noun the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something
    boundary; bounds.
  3. noun the greatest possible degree of something
    boundary; limit.
    • what he did was beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior
    • to the limit of his ability
  4. noun a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
    spring; leaping; bounce; leap; saltation.
  5. verb move forward by leaps and bounds
    jump; spring; leap.
    • The horse bounded across the meadow
    • The child leapt across the puddle
    • Can you jump over the fence?
  6. verb form the boundary of; be contiguous to
    border.
  7. verb place limits on (extent or access)
    throttle; restrict; trammel; restrain; limit; confine.
    • restrict the use of this parking lot
    • limit the time you can spend with your friends
  8. verb spring back; spring away from an impact
    spring; rebound; bounce; take a hop; reverberate; recoil; resile; ricochet.
    • The rubber ball bounced
    • These particles do not resile but they unite after they collide
  9. verb stick to firmly
    bind; stick to; hold fast; adhere; stick; bond.
    • Will this wallpaper adhere to the wall?
  10. verb create social or emotional ties
    bind; bond; attach; tie.
    • The grandparents want to bond with the child
  11. verb make fast; tie or secure, with or as if with a rope
    bind.
    • The Chinese would bind the feet of their women
  12. verb wrap around with something so as to cover or enclose
    bind; bandage.
  13. verb secure with or as if with ropes
    bind; tie up; tie down; truss.
    • tie down the prisoners
    • tie up the old newspapers and bring them to the recycling shed
  14. verb bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted
    oblige; bind; obligate; hold.
    • He's held by a contract
    • I'll hold you by your promise
  15. verb provide with a binding
    bind.
    • bind the books in leather
  16. verb fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord
    tie; bind.
    • They tied their victim to the chair
  17. verb form a chemical bond with
    bind.
    • The hydrogen binds the oxygen
  18. verb cause to be constipated
    constipate; bind.
    • These foods tend to constipate you
  19. adjective confined by bonds
    • bound and gagged hostages
  20. adjective held with another element, substance or material in chemical or physical union
  21. adjective secured with a cover or binding; often used as a combining form
    • bound volumes
    • leather-bound volumes
  22. adjective satellite (usually followed by `to') governed by fate
    destined.
    • bound to happen
    • an old house destined to be demolished
    • he is destined to be famous
  23. adjective satellite covered or wrapped with a bandage
    bandaged.
    • the bandaged wound on the back of his head
    • an injury bound in fresh gauze
  24. adjective satellite headed or intending to head in a certain direction; often used as a combining form as in `college-bound students'
    destined.
    • children bound for school
    • a flight destined for New York
  25. adjective satellite bound by an oath
    • a bound official
  26. adjective satellite bound by contract
    apprenticed; indentured; articled.
  27. adjective satellite confined in the bowels
    • he is bound in the belly

WordNet

Bound noun
Etymology
OE. bounde, bunne, OF. bonne, bonde, bodne, F. borne, fr. LL. bodina, bodena, bonna; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. Arm. bonn boundary, limit, and boden, bod, a tuft or cluster of trees, by which a boundary or limit could be marked. Cf. Bourne.
Definitions
  1. The external or limiting line, either real or imaginary, of any object or space; that which limits or restrains, or within which something is limited or restrained; limit; confine; extent; boundary.
    He hath compassed the waters with bounds. Job xxvi. 10.
    On earth's remotest bounds. Campbell.
    And mete the bounds of hate and love. Tennyson.
    Syn. -- See Boundary.
Bound transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Bounded; present participle & verbal noun Bounding
Definitions
  1. To limit; to terminate; to fix the furthest point of extension of; -- said of natural or of moral objects; to lie along, or form, a boundary of; to inclose; to circumscribe; to restrain; to confine.
    Where full measure only bounds excess. Milton.
    Phlegethon . . . Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds. Dryden.
  2. To name the boundaries of; as, to bound France.
Bound intransitive verb
Etymology
F. bondir to leap, OF. bondir, bundir, to leap, resound, fr. L. bombitare to buzz, hum, fr. bombus a humming, buzzing. See Bomb.
Definitions
  1. To move with a sudden spring or leap, or with a succession of springs or leaps; as the beast bounded from his den; the herd bounded across the plain.
    Before his lord the ready spaniel bounds. Pope.
    And the waves bound beneath me as a steed That knows his rider. Byron.
  2. To rebound, as an elastic ball.
Bound transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To make to bound or leap; as, to bound a horse. R. Shak.
  2. To cause to rebound; to throw so that it will rebound; as, to bound a ball on the floor. Collog.
Bound noun
Definitions
  1. A leap; an elastic spring; a jump.
    A bound of graceful hardihood. Wordsworth.
  2. Rebound; as, the bound of a ball. Johnson.
  3. (Dancing) Spring from one foot to the other.
Bound
Definitions
  1. imp. & p. p. of Bind.
Bound past participle & adjective
Definitions
  1. Restrained by a hand, rope, chain, fetters, or the like.
  2. Inclosed in a binding or cover; as, a bound volume.
  3. Under legal or moral restraint or obligation.
  4. Constrained or compelled; destined; certain; -- followed by the infinitive; as, he is bound to succeed; he is bound to fail.
  5. Resolved; as, I am bound to do it. Collog. U. S.
  6. Constipated; costive. ✍ Used also in composition; as, icebound, windbound, hidebound, etc.
Bound adjective
Etymology
Past p. of OE. bounen to prepare, fr. boun ready, prepared, fr. Icel. büinn, p. p. of büa to dwell, prepare; akin to E. boor and bower. See Bond, a., and cf. Busk, v.
Definitions
  1. Ready or intending to go; on the way toward; going; -- with to or for, or with an adverb of motion; as, a ship is bound to Cadiz, or for Cadiz. "The mariner bound homeward." Cowper.

Webster 1913