impound
Americanverb (used with object)
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impounds,
present (3rd person singular)
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impounded,
past participle, past
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impounding
present participle
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to shut up in a pound or other enclosure, as a stray animal.
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to confine within an enclosure or within limits.
water impounded in a reservoir.
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to seize and retain in custody of the law, as a document for evidence.
noun
verb
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to confine (stray animals, illegally parked cars, etc) in a pound
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to seize (chattels, etc) by legal right
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to take possession of (a document, evidence, etc) and hold in legal custody
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to collect (water) in a reservoir or dam, as for irrigation
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to seize or appropriate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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impoundsimple
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impoundssimple
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have impoundedperfect
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has impoundedperfect
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am impoundingprogressive
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are impoundingprogressive
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is impoundingprogressive
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have been impoundingperfect progressive
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has been impoundingperfect progressive
Past
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impoundedsimple
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had impoundedperfect
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was impoundingprogressive
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were impoundingprogressive
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had been impoundingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of impound
Explanation
To impound something is to legally take it away from its owner. The police might impound your car if you were parked in front of a fire hydrant. Sometimes a city will impound a driver's car after they've accumulated many unpaid parking tickets. Another reason to impound someone's vehicle is because they haven't been making their loan payments — in a case like this, the bank that holds the loan might impound the car. A second meaning of impound is to shut an animal inside an enclosure or pound.
Vocabulary lists containing impound
Born a Crime
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"Piracy Bites!" and "Doonesbury on Downloading"
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Henry V
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That law, passed in 1974 in the wake of disputes with President Richard Nixon, restricts the president’s authority to withhold, or impound, funds approved by Congress.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
While the Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome gathers dust in a Police Scotland impound lot, Murrell is also revealed to have made several other luxury purchases with embezzled funds.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
At the impound lot, Vescovi pulled into a spot where his dashcam pointed away from Spivey’s truck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
Hollywood Tow provides impound services on behalf of the city of Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
They know it's gonna be hard to get that car out of impound.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
In early 2024, operators will open the floodgates on the 49-meter-high dam that blocks the Klamath River, allowing the more than 50 million tons of water it impounds to begin to drain.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 18, 2023
If a towing company impounds the vehicle of a servicemember, they are required to first obtain a court order before any sale of the car.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
The analysis showed that Retriever Towing completed about 43% of impounds in the city.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2023
“Despite the hundreds of impounds and citations and arrests, we still see the proliferation of this.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2022
A barrage and lock control the flow of water at Assiut; a huge dam at Assuan impounds the surplus of the flood season.
From Commercial Geography A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges by Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw) Redway
It sat outside the home of Murrell's elderly mother in Dunfermline for two years before it was impounded by police.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
In deeper reservoirs, however, it helped reduce deoxygenation in the impounded area.
From Science Daily ● May 17, 2026
He was on a national tour when detectives were called to a Hollywood tow yard after neighbors complained of a terrible smell coming from an impounded vehicle.
From Barron's ● Apr. 20, 2026
Officers cleared that takeover by around 3:30 a.m. and impounded one vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
“We have impounded the rental vehicle as evidence. Mr. Shaffer put on a lot of mileage.”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Towing and impounding companies may auction unclaimed vehicles within a certain amount of time.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2026
Some have suggested that this could portend a more carefully planned attempt at impounding soon.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2025
In previous years, the city’s transportation department lacked funding, storage space and equipment to remove large vehicles — and found it difficult to locate RV occupants, which complicated the impounding process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2024
Potential environmental impacts of reservoir construction are another significant impediment to adoption of PSH when impounding a natural waterway.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2023
“I just wanted directions and the next thing I know”—I gave a cheerfully dismayed laugh—“this man’s telling me I’m on private property and he’s impounding my car.”
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
