bondage
Americannoun
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slavery or involuntary servitude; serfdom.
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the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control.
- Synonyms:
- imprisonment, confinement, captivity, thralldom
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the state or practice of being physically restrained, as by being tied up, chained, or put in handcuffs, for sexual gratification.
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Early English Law. personal subjection to the control of a superior; villeinage.
noun
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slavery or serfdom; servitude
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Also called: villeinage. (in medieval Europe) the condition and status of unfree peasants who provided labour and other services for their lord in return for holdings of land
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a sexual practice in which one partner is physically bound
Related Words
See slavery.
Etymology
Origin of bondage
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-Latin bondagium. See bond 2, -age
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.
He recounts marveling at the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism, which released Eastern Europe from bondage and allowed his own country to emerge from the shadow of the Soviet Union.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
Chris Farrimond, NCA Director of Threat Leadership, warned migrants who enter the UK "under these clandestine means" are "under increased risk of being forced into exploitation and debt bondage" by groups of people smugglers.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2024
It is well known that the 14th Amendment revolutionized our Constitution, changing a document that sanctioned bondage into one that promised liberation and equal citizenship.
From Slate • Apr. 19, 2024
People held in bondage didn't have any capital or individual rights and the federal government was the least of their problems — they were held against their will by private individuals.
From Salon • Dec. 29, 2023
He told and retold the story of the children of Israel, and how they escaped from bondage, to a group of slaves who were his followers.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
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.
