pound

¹ American  

[pound] / paʊnd /

verb (used with object)

1. to strike repeatedly with great force, as with an instrument, the fist, heavy missiles, etc.

2. to produce or effect by striking or thumping, or in a manner resembling this (often followed byout ).

   to pound out a tune on the piano.

3. to force (a way) by battering; batter (often followed bydown ).

   He pounded his way through the mob. He pounded the door down.

4. to crush into a powder or paste by beating repeatedly.

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verb (used without object)

1. to strike heavy blows repeatedly.

   to pound on a door.

2. to beat or throb violently, as the heart.

3. to give forth a thumping sound.

   The drums pounded loudly.

4. to walk or go with heavy steps; move along with force or vigor.

noun

1. the act of pounding.

2. a heavy or forcible blow.

3. a thump.

pound ² American  

[pound] / paʊnd /

noun

plural

pounds,

plural

pound

1. a unit of weight and of mass, varying in different periods and countries.

2. 1. (in English-speaking countries) an avoirdupois unit of weight equal to 7000 grains, divided into 16 ounces (0.453 kilogram), used for ordinary commerce. lb., lb. av.

   2. a troy unit of weight, in the U.S. and formerly in Britain, equal to 5760 grains, divided into 12 ounces (0.373 kilogram), used for gold, silver, and other precious metals. lb. t.

   3. (in the United States) an apothecaries' unit of weight equal to 5760 grains, divided into 12 ounces (0.373 kilogram). lb. ap.

3. Also called pound sterling.  a paper money, nickel-brass coin, and monetary unit of the United Kingdom formerly equal to 20 shillings or 240 pence: equal to 100 new pence after decimalization in Feb. 1971. L; £

4. any of the monetary units of various countries, as Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, and of certain Commonwealth of Nations countries.

5. a monetary unit of Ireland until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 pence.

6. a monetary unit of Cyprus until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 cents.

7. Also called pound Scots.  a former Scottish money of account, originally equal to the pound sterling but equal to only a twelfth of the pound sterling at the union of the crowns of England and Scotland in 1603.

8. (formerly) the Turkish lira.

9. a former monetary unit of Israel, Libya, and Nigeria.

10. Citizens Band Radio Slang. pounds, a meter reading in units of five decibels: used as a measure of loudness for incoming signals.

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pound ³ American  

[pound] / paʊnd /

noun

1. an enclosure maintained by local government for confining stray or homeless animals.

   dog pound.

2. an enclosure for sheltering, keeping, or confining livestock, or for trapping wild animals.

3. an enclosure or trap for fish.

4. a place of confinement or imprisonment.

5. a place or area where cars or other vehicles are impounded, as those towed away for being illegally parked.

   I not only had to go all the way across town to the pound, but had to pay a killer fine.

6. reach.

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verb (used with object)

1. Archaic. to shut up in or as in a pound; impound; imprison.

Pound ⁴ American  

[pound] / paʊnd /

noun

1. Ezra Loomis 1885–1972, U.S. poet.

2. Louise, 1872–1958, U.S. scholar and linguist.

3. her brother Roscoe, 1870–1964, U.S. legal scholar and writer.

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Pound ¹ British  

/ paʊnd /

noun

1. Ezra ( Loomis ). 1885–1972, US poet, translator, and critic, living in Europe. Indicted for treason by the US government (1945) for pro-Fascist broadcasts during World War II, he was committed to a mental hospital until 1958. He was a founder of imagism and championed the early work of such writers as T. S. Eliot, Joyce, and Hemingway. His life work, the Cantos (1925–70), is an unfinished sequence of poems, which incorporates mythological and historical materials in several languages as well as political, economic, and autobiographical elements

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pound ² British  

/ paʊnd /

verb

1. to strike heavily and often

2. (tr) to beat to a pulp; pulverize

3. (tr) to instil by constant drilling

   to pound Latin into him

4. to produce, as by typing heavily

5. to walk (the pavement, street, etc) repeatedly

   he pounded the pavement looking for a job

6. (intr) to throb heavily

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noun

1. a heavy blow; thump

2. the act of pounding

pound ³ British  

/ paʊnd /

noun

1. an enclosure, esp one maintained by a public authority, for keeping officially removed vehicles or distrained goods or animals, esp stray dogs

2. a place where people are confined

3. 1. a trap for animals

   2. a trap or keepnet for fish See pound net

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verb

1. (tr) to confine in or as if in a pound; impound, imprison, or restrain

pound ⁴ British  

/ paʊnd /

noun

1.  lb.  an avoirdupois unit of weight that is divided into 16 ounces and is equal to 0.453 592 kilograms

2. Abbreviation: lb tr.   lb t.  a troy unit of weight divided into 12 ounces equal to 0.373 242 kilograms

3. an apothecaries' unit of weight, used in the US, that is divided into 5760 grains and is equal to one pound troy

4.  lbf.  (not in technical usage) a unit of force equal to the mass of 1 pound avoirdupois where the acceleration of free fall is 32.174 feet per second per second

5. 1. Official name: pound sterling.  the standard monetary unit of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and various UK overseas territories, divided into 100 pence

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pound coin

6. 1. Cyprus: divided into 100 cents

   2. Egypt: divided into 100 piastres

   3. Lebanon: divided into 100 piastres

   4. South Sudan: divided into 100 piastres

   5. Syria: divided into 100 piastres

7. another name for lira

8. Also called: pound Scots.  a former Scottish monetary unit originally worth an English pound but later declining in value to 1 shilling 8 pence

9. Also called: punt.  the former standard monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland, divided into 100 pence; replaced by the euro in 2002

10. a former monetary unit of the Sudan replaced by the dinar in 1992

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pound Scientific  

/ pound /

1. A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 16 ounces (0.45 kilograms).

2. See Table at measurement See Note at weight

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pound Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing pound

• in for a penny, in for a pound
• penny wise, pound foolish

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Related Words

See beat.

Other Word Forms

• pounder noun

Etymology

Origin of pound¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English pounen, ponne “to pulverize, crush, powder,” Old English pūnian “to pound, beat”; akin to Dutch puin “rubbish.” The final, unetymological -d appears in the16th century

Origin of pound²

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English pund (cognate with Dutch pond, German Pfund, Gothic, Old Norse pund ), ultimately from Latin pondō “by weight, in weight” (adverb), in the phrase libra pondō “a pound by weight”; see origin at ponder, libra ¹

Origin of pound³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English poond; compare Late Old English pund- in pundfald “animal pound, fold;” see origin at pinfold; akin to pond

Explanation

A pound is a unit of measuring mass. Your giant cat, at 16 pounds, may easily outweigh your tiny dog — and whether he does or not, he's definitely the boss. Pound is one of those words with a dizzying number of meanings. There's the unit North Americans use to measure weight, and there's also the unit of currency in the U.K. that's basically equivalent to U.S. dollars. Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, among other countries, also have pound currencies. As a verb, pound means "to hit or make a heavy thud," the way you pound a stake in the ground or your heart pounds when you're nervous.

Example Sentences

“You get a parking ticket, they want their pound of flesh.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Circana said the price gap between more-expensive meat alternatives and the real thing kept widening since 2022, to $4.20 per pound in 2024.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 12, 2026

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is pausing a multi-billion pound UK data centre project aimed at boosting its AI infrastructure, citing concerns about high energy costs and regulation.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

Carter started fishing for the carp full-time, lured by subsidies from the state of Illinois, which pays a dime per pound.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Her family couldn't go anywhere without being stopped, having to talk to so and so, or get hemmed up into having iced tea and pound cake on somebody's porch.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton