bound

1
[ bound ]
See synonyms for: boundboundedboundingboundness on Thesaurus.com

verb
  1. simple past tense and past participle of bind.

adjective
  1. tied; in bonds: a bound prisoner.

  2. made fast as if by a band or bond: She is bound to her family.

  1. secured within a cover, as a book.

  2. under a legal or moral obligation: He is bound by the terms of the contract.

  3. destined; sure; certain: It is bound to happen.

  4. determined or resolved: He is bound to go.

  5. Pathology. constipated.

  6. Mathematics. (of a vector) having a specified initial point as well as magnitude and direction.: Compare free (def. 32).

  7. held with another element, substance, or material in chemical or physical union.

  8. (of a linguistic form) occurring only in combination with other forms, as most affixes.: Compare free (def. 35).

Idioms about bound

  1. bound upin / with,

    • inseparably connected with.

    • devoted or attached to: She is bound up in her teaching.

Origin of bound

1
Past participle and past tense of bind

Other words for bound

Other words from bound

  • boundness, noun

Words Nearby bound

Other definitions for bound (2 of 6)

bound2
[ bound ]

verb (used without object)
  1. to move by leaps; leap; jump; spring: The colt bounded through the meadow.

  2. to rebound, as a ball; bounce: The ball bounded against the wall.

noun
  1. a leap onward or upward; jump.

  2. a rebound; bounce.

Origin of bound

2
First recorded in 1545–55; from Middle French bond “a leap,” bondir “to leap,” originally “bounce back, echo,” ultimately from Vulgar Latin bombitīre (unattested) for bombitāre “to buzz, whiz” (Latin bomb(us) (see bomb) + -it- intensive suffix + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix)

synonym study For bound

1. See skip1.

Other words from bound

  • bound·ing·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with bound

Other definitions for bound (3 of 6)

bound3
[ bound ]

noun
  1. Usually bounds . a limit or boundary: the bounds of space and time;within the bounds of his estate;within the bounds of reason.

  2. something that limits, confines, or restrains.

  1. bounds,

    • territories on or near a boundary.

    • land within boundary lines.

  2. Mathematics. a number greater than or equal to, or less than or equal to, all the numbers in a given set.: Compare greatest lower bound, least upper bound, lower bound, upper bound.

verb (used with object)
  1. to limit by or as if by bounds; keep within limits or confines.

  2. to form the boundary or limit of.

  1. to name or list the boundary of.

verb (used without object)
  1. to abut.

Origin of bound

3
First recorded in1175–1225; Middle English bounde, from Anglo-French; Old French bone, bonde, variant of bodne, from Medieval Latin budina, of uncertain origin; cf. bourn2

Other words for bound

Other words from bound

  • bound·a·ble, adjective

Other definitions for bound (4 of 6)

bound4
[ bound ]

adjective
  1. going or intending to go; on the way to; destined (usually followed by for): The train is bound for Denver.

  2. Archaic. prepared; ready.

Origin of bound

4
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English b(o)un) “ready,” from Old Norse būinn, past participle of būa “to get ready”

Other definitions for -bound (5 of 6)

-bound1

  1. a combining form of bound1: snowbound.

Other definitions for -bound (6 of 6)

-bound2

  1. a combining form of bound4: eastbound.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bound in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bound (1 of 4)

bound1

/ (baʊnd) /


verb
  1. the past tense and past participle of bind

adjective
  1. in bonds or chains; tied with or as if with a rope: a bound prisoner

  2. (in combination) restricted; confined: housebound; fogbound

  1. (postpositive , foll by an infinitive) destined; sure; certain: it's bound to happen

  2. (postpositive, often foll by by) compelled or obliged to act, behave, or think in a particular way, as by duty, circumstance, or convention

  3. (of a book) secured within a cover or binding: to deliver bound books See also half-bound

  4. (postpositive, foll by on) US resolved; determined: bound on winning

  5. linguistics

    • denoting a morpheme, such as the prefix non-, that occurs only as part of another word and not as a separate word in itself: Compare free (def. 21)

    • (in systemic grammar) denoting a clause that has a nonfinite predicator or that is introduced by a binder, and that occurs only together with a freestanding clause: Compare freestanding

  6. logic (of a variable) occurring within the scope of a quantifier that indicates the degree of generality of the open sentence in which the variable occurs: in (x) (Fxbxy), x is bound and y is free: See free (def. 22)

  7. bound up with closely or inextricably linked with: his irritability is bound up with his work

  8. I'll be bound I am sure (something) is true

British Dictionary definitions for bound (2 of 4)

bound2

/ (baʊnd) /


verb
  1. to move forwards or make (one's way) by leaps or jumps

  2. to bounce; spring away from an impact

noun
  1. a jump upwards or forwards

  2. by leaps and bounds with unexpectedly rapid progess: her condition improved by leaps and bounds

  1. a sudden pronounced sense of excitement: his heart gave a sudden bound when he saw her

  2. a bounce, as of a ball

Origin of bound

2
C16: from Old French bond a leap, from bondir to jump, resound, from Vulgar Latin bombitīre (unattested) to buzz, hum, from Latin bombus booming sound

British Dictionary definitions for bound (3 of 4)

bound3

/ (baʊnd) /


verb
  1. (tr) to place restrictions on; limit

  2. (when intr, foll by on) to form a boundary of (an area of land or sea, political or administrative region, etc)

noun
  1. maths

    • a number which is greater than all the members of a set of numbers (an upper bound), or less than all its members (a lower bound): See also bounded (def. 1)

    • more generally, an element of an ordered set that has the same ordering relation to all the members of a given subset

    • whence, an estimate of the extent of some set

  2. See bounds

Origin of bound

3
C13: from Old French bonde, from Medieval Latin bodina, of Gaulish origin

British Dictionary definitions for bound (4 of 4)

bound4

/ (baʊnd) /


adjective
    • (postpositive, often foll by for) going or intending to go towards; on the way to: a ship bound for Jamaica; homeward bound

    • (in combination): northbound traffic

Origin of bound

4
C13: from Old Norse buinn, past participle of būa to prepare

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with bound

bound

In addition to the idioms beginning with bound

  • bound and determined to
  • bound for
  • bound hand and foot
  • bound to, be
  • bound up in

also see:

  • by leaps and bounds
  • duty bound
  • honor bound
  • out of bounds
  • within bounds

Also see underbind.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.