bound

¹

[ bound ]

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of bind.

adjective

1. tied; in bonds:

   a bound prisoner.

2. made fast as if by a band or bond:

   She is bound to her family.

3. secured within a cover, as a book.
4. under a legal or moral obligation:

   He is bound by the terms of the contract.

   Synonyms: compelled, obliged, liable

5. destined; sure; certain:

   It is bound to happen.

6. determined or resolved:

   He is bound to go.

7. Pathology. constipated.
8. Mathematics. (of a vector) having a specified initial point as well as magnitude and direction. Compare free ( def 32 ).
9. held with another element, substance, or material in chemical or physical union.
10. (of a linguistic form) occurring only in combination with other forms, as most affixes. Compare free ( def 35 ).

-bound

²

1. a combining form of bound ¹:

   snowbound.

bound

³

[ bound ]

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

1. a leap onward or upward; jump.
2. a rebound; bounce.

-bound

⁴

1. a combining form of bound ⁴:

   eastbound.

bound

⁵

[ bound ]

noun

1. Usually bounds. a limit or boundary:

   the bounds of space and time;

   within the bounds of his estate;

   within the bounds of reason.

   Synonyms: confines, frontier, border

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)

1. to limit by or as if by bounds; keep within limits or confines.
2. to form the boundary or limit of.
3. to name or list the boundary of.

verb (used without object)

1. to abut.

bound

⁶

[ bound ]

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.

bound

¹

/ baʊnd /

verb

1. to move forwards or make (one's way) by leaps or jumps
2. to bounce; spring away from an impact

noun

1. a jump upwards or forwards
2. by leaps and bounds
   by leaps and bounds with unexpectedly rapid progess

   her condition improved by leaps and bounds

3. a sudden pronounced sense of excitement

   his heart gave a sudden bound when he saw her

4. a bounce, as of a ball

bound

²

/ baʊnd /

adjective

1. 1. postpositive, often foll byfor going or intending to go towards; on the way to

      homeward bound

      a ship bound for Jamaica

   2. ( in combination )

      northbound traffic

bound

³

/ baʊnd /

verb

1. tr to place restrictions on; limit
2. whenintr, foll by on to form a boundary of (an area of land or sea, political or administrative region, etc)

noun

1. 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
   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
2. See bounds
   See bounds

bound

⁴

/ baʊnd /

verb

1. See bind
   the past tense and past participle of bind

adjective

1. in bonds or chains; tied with or as if with a rope

   a bound prisoner

2. in combination restricted; confined

   fogbound

   housebound

3. postpositive, foll by an infinitive destined; sure; certain

   it's bound to happen

4. postpositive, often foll byby compelled or obliged to act, behave, or think in a particular way, as by duty, circumstance, or convention
5. See half-bound
   (of a book) secured within a cover or binding See also half-bound

   to deliver bound books

6. postpositive, foll byon resolved; determined

   bound on winning

7. 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
   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
8. See free
   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
9. bound up with
   bound up with closely or inextricably linked with

   his irritability is bound up with his work

10. I'll be bound
    I'll be bound I am sure (something) is true

Other Words From

• boundness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bound¹

Past participle and past tense of bind

Origin of bound²

First recorded in 1545–55; from Middle French bond “a leap,” bondir “to leap,” originally “bounce back, echo,” ultimately from Vulgar Latin bombitīre (unattested) for bombitāre “to buzz, whiz” ( Latin bomb(us) ( bomb ) + -it- intensive suffix + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix)

Origin of bound³

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English bounde, from Anglo-French; Old French bone, bonde, variant of bodne, from Medieval Latin budina, of uncertain origin; bourn ²

Origin of bound⁴

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English b(o)un) “ready,” from Old Norse būinn, past participle of būa “to get ready”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bound¹

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

Origin of bound²

C13: from Old Norse buinn , past participle of būa to prepare

Origin of bound³

C13: from Old French bonde , from Medieval Latin bodina , of Gaulish origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. bound up in / with,
   1. inseparably connected with.
   2. devoted or attached to:

      She is bound up in her teaching.

2. 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.

More idioms and phrases containing bound

• by leaps and bounds
• duty bound
• honor bound
• out of bounds
• within bounds
• bind

Synonym Study

See skip ¹.

Example Sentences

That act forever sealed his feeling for the Chief, bound it up with the war, with violence, with the gun.

From The Daily Beast

They were born in 51 countries and speak 59 foreign languages, but they seemed bound by a single purpose and resolve.

From The Daily Beast

Bound together by mutual distrust, both sides end up lashing themselves to the mast of rigid law.

From The Daily Beast

From 2012 to 2013, 31 men left Aarhus bound for combat in Syria.

From The Daily Beast

That is bound to put a dent in public confidence in the police.

From The Daily Beast

On the thirteenth of the same month they bound to the stake, in order to burn alive, a man who had two religious in his house.

From Project Gutenberg

A small book, bound in full purple calf, lay half hidden in a nest of fine tissue paper on the dressing-table.

From Project Gutenberg

A good many children seem to be like savages in distinguishing those to whom one is bound to speak the truth.

From Project Gutenberg

These officers are bound to maintayne themselves and families with food and rayment by their owne and their servant's industrie.

From Project Gutenberg

A flock of weary sheep pattered along the road, barnward bound, heavy eyed and bleating softly.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hop
• leap
• prance
• ricochet
• skip
• vault

Words That Use -bound

What does -bound mean?

The combining form –bound is used like a suffix that has two distinct senses.

The first of these senses is “tied, in bonds” or “detained,” and this form of –bound is occasionally used in a variety of everyday terms, especially in reference to inclement weather. The form –bound in this sense comes from the past participle and past tense of the verb bind, meaning “to fasten or secure with a band or bond.”

The second of these senses is “going or intending to go; destined,” and this form of –bound is occasionally used in a variety of everyday terms, especially when indicating a direction or destination of travel. The form –bound in this sense ultimately comes from Old Norse būa, meaning “to get ready.”

Not every word that ends with the exact letters –bound, e.g., abound or rebound, is necessarily using the combining form –bound to denote “tied” or “destined.” Learn why abound means “to occur in great quantities” at our entry for the word.

Examples of -bound with the sense “tied, in bonds”

An example of a term that features the form –bound to mean “tied, in bonds” is snowbound, “shut in or immobilized by snow.”

The snow– part of the word means, naturally, “snow.” As we have seen, –bound means “tied.” Snowbound literally means “snow-tied.”

What are some words that use the combining form -bound?

• fogbound
• hidebound
• housebound
• icebound
• spellbound
• stormbound

What are some other forms that –bound may be commonly confused with?

• -biont

Break it down!

Given the meaning of –bound, what does it mean when a ship is stormbound?

Examples of -bound with the sense “going or intended to go; destined”

One word that you may have come across that features the combining form –bound to mean “destined” is inbound, “inward bound.”

The form in– here means “inward,” meaning “toward the inside, interior, or center.” Given that it is referring to direction or location, –bound here means “going or intended to go, destined.” Inbound literally means “going toward the inside.”

What are some words that use the combining form –bound?

• eastbound
• northbound
• outbound
• southbound
• westbound

What are some other forms that –bound may be commonly confused with?

• -biont

Break it down!

Given the meaning of –bound, what does eastbound mean?