ironbound
Americanadjective
-
bound with iron
-
unyielding; inflexible
-
(of a coast) rocky; rugged
Etymology
Origin of ironbound
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at iron, -bound 1
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.
Right now, he’s piloting “Man of La Mancha,” and he’s so excited that he brings a model of designer Allen Moyer’s dark, ironbound prison set and Ann Hould-Ward’s costume sketches to an interview.
From Washington Post • Mar. 19, 2015
He described 19th-century “path-makers,” highbred gentlemen who spent summers armchair-engineering intricate paths around Mount Desert Island’s barren 1,500-foot peaks, glacial lakes and ironbound shoreline.
From New York Times • Aug. 8, 2014
But William Francis put himself the rest of the way through college, then took a law degree at Columbia, which was later to come in handy in preparing ironbound contracts.
From Time Magazine Archive
No adult productions reflect as limpidly as theirs the ironbound sobriety of that period.
From Time Magazine Archive
While I looked them over, Sander rummaged through an ironbound chest and tossed me a short kersey tunic and a pair of plain breeches.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
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.
