binder

American  

[bahyn-der] / ˈbaɪn dər /

noun

• binders
  plural

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.

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.

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binder British  

/ 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. Also called: reaper binder.  obsolete 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. (in systemic grammar) a word that introduces a bound clause; a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun Compare linker

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• binders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of binder

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

Explanation

A binder is a kind of notebook meant to hold loose papers together. You might have a binder for each of the classes you're taking. One type of binder has three metal rings that keep papers securely in place, and hard plastic covers to protect them from being bent or torn. You can also use the word binder when you're talking about a sticky or adhesive substance, or anything that binds two items together. The Old English root is bindere, "a person who binds," from bindan, "to tie up."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

binder binders

A useful form already provides enough structure — a base, a binder, a vessel — that whatever looks best can find a place within it.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

As the road wears over time, the particles that break away are made up of rock, asphalt binder, and polymer together rather than plastic by itself.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026

Michele described carrying a binder with hundreds of pages of medical records and creating spreadsheets to track symptoms as they trekked from hospital to hospital, doctor to doctor, to get treatment for Aidan.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026

The pitted road surface was scalped by a 30-tonne machine planer and the debris swept out before a bitumen emulsion binder was sprayed ahead of the laying of fresh asphalt.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

He opened his binder; it contained multiple documents and a legal pad.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day

According to Garrett-Davis, Marston had around 185 binders full of photographs, often placed on a cut-out map of where they were taken and organized mile-by-mile, from below the U.S.-Mexico border all the way into Utah.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026

In the pre-AI world, after rough outlines were agreed on for an operation, commanders and specialists would develop mission plans, compiling paper-stuffed binders in a weekslong exercise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026

These binders act like a glue that holds the electrode materials together.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2026

Little if anything new was in the binders, which caused a backlash.

From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025

The flames tattooed upon their faces were their binders.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Related Words

• folder
• notebook