bind

[ bahynd ]

verb (used with object)

, bound, bind·ing.

1. to fasten or secure with a band or bond.

   Synonyms: tie, fasten, attach

   Antonyms: untie, unfasten, unbind, loosen, loose

2. to encircle with a band or ligature:

   She bound her hair with a ribbon.

   Synonyms: wrap, belt, gird

3. to swathe or bandage (often followed by up ):

   to bind up one's wounds.

4. to fasten around; fix in place by girding:

   They bound his hands behind him.

5. to tie up (anything, as sheaves of grain).
6. to cause to cohere:

   Ice bound the soil.

7. to unite by any legal or moral tie:

   to be bound by a contract.

8. to hold to a particular state, place, employment, etc.:

   Business kept him bound to the city.

9. to place under obligation or compulsion (usually used passively):

   We are bound by good sense to obey the country's laws.

   Synonyms: obligate, oblige, engage

10. Law. to put under legal obligation, as to keep the peace or appear as a witness (often followed by over ):

    This action binds them to keep the peace. He was bound over to the grand jury.

11. to make compulsory or obligatory:

    to bind the order with a deposit.

12. to fasten or secure within a cover, as a book:

    They will bind the new book in leather.

13. to cover the edge of, as for protection or ornament:

    to bind a carpet.

14. (of clothing) to chafe or restrict (the wearer):

    This shirt binds me under the arms.

15. Medicine/Medical. to hinder or restrain (the bowels) from their natural function; constipate.
16. to indenture as an apprentice (often followed by out ):

    In his youth his father bound him to a blacksmith.

verb (used without object)

, bound, bind·ing.

1. to become compact or solid; cohere:

   The eggs and the flour bind, creating a stable cake.

2. to be obligatory:

   It is a duty that binds.

3. to chafe or restrict, as poorly fitting garments:

   This jacket binds through the shoulders.

4. to get stuck or cease to move freely:

   Overheating made the drill bit bind in the wood.

5. to temporarily flatten one's breast tissue using compression garments or strips of fabric, often done by gender-diverse people as part of their gender expression:

   I feel pretty masculine today, so I think I'll bind.

6. Falconry. (of a hawk) to grapple or grasp prey firmly in flight (usually followed by to ):

   The falcon binds to the pheasant and then carries it to the hunter.

noun

1. the act or process of binding; the state or instance of being bound.
2. something that binds.
3. Informal. a difficult situation or predicament:

   This schedule has us in a bind.

4. Music. a tie, slur, or brace.
5. Falconry. the act of binding to prey in flight.

verb phrase

1. Knitting. to loop (one stitch) over another in making an edge on knitted fabric.

bind

/ baɪnd /

verb

1. to make or become fast or secure with or as if with a tie or band
2. troften foll byup to encircle or enclose with a band

   to bind the hair

3. tr to place (someone) under obligation; oblige
4. tr to impose legal obligations or duties upon (a person or party to an agreement)
5. tr to make (a bargain, agreement, etc) irrevocable; seal
6. tr to restrain or confine with or as if with ties, as of responsibility or loyalty
7. tr to place under certain constraints; govern
8. troften foll byup to bandage or swathe

   to bind a wound

9. to cohere or stick or cause to cohere or stick

   egg binds fat and flour

10. to make or become compact, stiff, or hard

    frost binds the earth

11. 1. tr to enclose and fasten (the pages of a book) between covers
    2. intr (of a book) to undergo this process
12. tr to provide (a garment, hem, etc) with a border or edging, as for decoration or to prevent fraying
13. tr; sometimes foll by out or over to employ as an apprentice; indenture
14. slang.
    intr to complain
15. See bound
    tr logic to bring (a variable) into the scope of an appropriate quantifier See also bound 1

noun

1. something that binds
2. the act of binding or state of being bound
3. informal.
   a difficult or annoying situation
4. See bine
   another word for bine
5. See tie
   music another word for tie
6. mining clay between layers of coal
7. fencing a pushing movement with the blade made to force one's opponent's sword from one line into another
8. chess a position in which one player's pawns have a hold on the centre that makes it difficult for the opponent to advance there

bind

/ bīnd /

1. To combine with, form a bond with, or be taken up by a chemical or chemical structure. An enzyme, for example, is structured in such a way as to be able to bind with its substrate.

Other Words From

• bind·a·ble adjective
• mis·bind verb misbound misbinding
• re·bind verb rebound rebinding

Word History and Origins

Origin of bind¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English binden (verb), Old English bindan; cognate with Old High German bintan, Old Norse binda, Gothic bindan, Sanskrit bandhati “(he) binds”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bind¹

Old English bindan ; related to Old Norse binda , Old High German bintan , Latin offendix band ², Sanskrit badhnāti he binds

Idioms and Phrases

• in a bind
• bound

Example Sentences

This New York Times story suggests that the double bind has a sibling—I’ll call it the motherhood bind.

From Fortune

The Broadsheet has spent plenty of time covering the “double bind” that women face in the workplace.

From Fortune

That’s the chicken-and-egg situation that has left indoor farms in a bind the world over until now, Teng points out.

From MIT Technology Review

To accomplish this next stage of capitalism, we must shake ourselves from the binds of a false narrative, the one that pits the interests of stakeholders against the interests of shareholders.

From Fortune

Many students are taking Mitsch’s advice, and that’s putting colleges in a bind.

From Ozy

By announcing this meeting with such feel-good publicity, they are placing their successors in quite a bind.

From The Daily Beast

On Escobar's order, Popeye took Mendoza hostage in the warden's house while Escobar tried to figure his way out of the bind.

From The Daily Beast

Its molecules bind to messenger RNA, allowing certain genes to be “turned off.”

From The Daily Beast

This has put Ukrainian gay activists and their allies in a bind.

From The Daily Beast

Finally, Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit.

From The Daily Beast

They have a living faith in the potency of the Horse-Guards, and in the maxim that "Safe bind is sure find."

From Project Gutenberg

He had, however, torn the leg of one of his stockings: so he asked Amy to bind up his wounds.

From Project Gutenberg

Oaths taken in courts of judicature, civil or religious, and the marriage oath, bind the parties in like manner.

From Project Gutenberg

In one word, to the whole worship of God the soul that clings to His Covenant will cordially bind itself in his dread presence.

From Project Gutenberg

There is none to judge thy judgment to bind it up: thou hast no healing medicines.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crunch
• dilemma
• pickle
• predicament
• quandary