binder

[ bahyn-der ]

noun

1. a person or thing that binds.
2. a detachable cover, resembling the cover of a notebook or book, with clasps or rings for holding loose papers together:

   a three-ring binder.

3. a person who binds books; a bookbinder.
4. Insurance. an agreement by which property or liability coverage is granted pending issuance of a policy.
5. Agriculture.
   1. an attachment to a harvester or reaper for binding the cut grain.
   2. Also called self-binder. a machine that cuts and binds grain.
6. any substance that causes the components of a mixture to cohere:

   Eggs, dairy, and gelatin are common binders in traditional recipes that vegan bakers have to replace.

7. Painting. a component of paint in which pigment is suspended.
8. (in powder metallurgy) a substance for holding compacted metal powder together while it is being sintered.
9. Building Trades.
   1. a stone, as a perpend, for bonding masonry.
   2. a girder supporting the ends of two sets of floor joists.
   3. a substance for holding loose material together, as water or tar in a macadamized road, or polyurethane in polymer concrete.
   4. stirrup ( def 4 ).
10. Also called chest binder. a compression garment for temporarily flattening a person's breast tissue, often used by gender-diverse people as part of their gender expression:

    My new binder gets my chest pretty flat, and it's more comfortable than my old one.

11. British, Australian Slang. a large quantity, especially of food.

binder

/ ˈbaɪndə /

noun

1. a firm cover or folder with rings or clasps for holding loose sheets of paper together
2. a material used to bind separate particles together, give an appropriate consistency, or facilitate adhesion to a surface
3. 1. a person who binds books; bookbinder
   2. a machine that is used to bind books
4. something used to fasten or tie, such as rope or twine
5. informal.
   a square meal
6. See combine harvester
   obsolete.
   Also calledreaper binder a machine for cutting grain and binding it into bundles or sheaves Compare combine harvester
7. an informal agreement giving insurance coverage pending formal issue of a policy
8. a tie, beam, or girder, used to support floor joists
9. a stone for binding masonry; bondstone
10. the nonvolatile component of the organic media in which pigments are dispersed in paint
11. See linker
    (in systemic grammar) a word that introduces a bound clause; a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun Compare linker

Word History and Origins

Origin of binder¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English; bind, -er ¹

Example Sentences

He carefully adds recipes to a binder he keeps while I am horrified he'd ever make some of these dishes again.

From Washington Post

Through homology, Poincaré aimed to capture everything from Riemann’s one-dimensional circle-like holes in a straw or binder paper, to the two-dimensional cavity-like holes inside Swiss cheese, and beyond to higher dimensions.

From Quanta Magazine

You’ve been keeping an eye on your work presentation binder all week so you can whip it out when you need it.

From Essence.com

The day before a hearing, the lawmaker said she often spends time studying a 70- to 150-page binder of background information compiled by her staff to prepare for difficult testimonies.

From Washington Post

Top officials began probing more deeply and told staffers to compile a “spill binder” of fields around Bakersfield, the seat of Kern County.

From ProPublica

In the memorial sits a three-ring-binder which contains the bios of the women who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From The Daily Beast

Many runways are asphaltic concrete—aggregate in a bitumen binder—which softens and melts under heat.

From The Daily Beast

The letter is four pages long, written on binder paper, in careful cursive.

From The Daily Beast

As Sarah A. Binder and Steven S. Smith show in their book Politics or Principle?

From The Daily Beast

I will be glad to hand this binder down to my niece and vouch for its comfort.

From The Daily Beast

Then, seeing no need to waste time, the corporal rode towards Courthorne's homestead, and found its owner stripping a binder.

From Project Gutenberg

Then Winston recognized them, and made a sign to one of the men behind him as he hauled his binder clear of the wheat.

From Project Gutenberg

Takes time, of course, but the sharp grit puts down the grain like a binder knife, if it blows through the field long enough.

From Project Gutenberg

A week or so after the supper party Festing started for the settlement with some pieces of a binder in his wagon.

From Project Gutenberg

At first, manufacturers of vertical filing equipment supplied nothing more substantial than boxes made of binder's board.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• folder
• notebook