ironbound

[ahy-ern-bound]

adjective

bound with iron.

rock-bound; rugged.

hard; rigid; unyielding.

Origin of ironbound

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at iron, -bound¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ironbound

Historical Examples of ironbound

Ahmad smiled at Daoud and gestured again at the ironbound door.
The Saracen: Land of the Infidel
Robert Shea
Cleverness broke upon him like shipping on an ironbound coast.
Certain Personal Matters
H. G. Wells
Beyond it an ironbound coast runs down four hundred miles southeast to Cape Horn.
South America Observations and Impressions
James Bryce
There, in front of the ironbound box, knelt Pomponio, busily at work on the stout padlock that guarded the treasures within.
Old Mission Stories of California
Charles Franklin Carter
A word dropped that I was returning there would bring me, by ironbound custom, an invitation to travel in their company.
The Door Through Space
Marion Zimmer Bradley

British Dictionary definitions for ironbound

ironbound

adjective

bound with iron

unyielding; inflexible

(of a coast) rocky; rugged

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