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pound

1
[ pound ]
/ paʊnd /
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verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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Origin of pound

1
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

synonym study for pound

1. See beat.

OTHER WORDS FROM pound

pounder, noun

Other definitions for pound (2 of 4)

pound2
[ pound ]
/ paʊnd /

noun, plural pounds, (collectively) pound.

Origin of pound

2
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, libra1

Other definitions for pound (3 of 4)

pound3
[ pound ]
/ paʊnd /

noun
verb (used with object)
Archaic. to shut up in or as in a pound; impound; imprison.

Origin of pound

3
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

Other definitions for pound (4 of 4)

Pound
[ pound ]
/ paʊnd /

noun
Ezra Loo·mis [loo-mis], /ˈlu mɪs/, 1885–1972, U.S. poet.
Louise, 1872–1958, U.S. scholar and linguist.
her brother, Roscoe, 1870–1964, U.S. legal scholar and writer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pound in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pound (1 of 4)

pound1
/ (paʊnd) /

verb
noun
a heavy blow; thump
the act of pounding

Derived forms of pound

pounder, noun

Word Origin for pound

Old English pūnian; related to Dutch puin rubble

British Dictionary definitions for pound (2 of 4)

pound2
/ (paʊnd) /

noun
an enclosure, esp one maintained by a public authority, for keeping officially removed vehicles or distrained goods or animals, esp stray dogs
a place where people are confined
  1. a trap for animals
  2. a trap or keepnet for fishSee pound net
verb
(tr) to confine in or as if in a pound; impound, imprison, or restrain

Word Origin for pound

C14: from Late Old English pund- as in pundfeald pinfold

British Dictionary definitions for pound (3 of 4)

pound3
/ (paʊnd) /

noun

Word Origin for pound

Old English pund, from Latin pondō pound; related to German Pfund pound, Latin pondus weight

British Dictionary definitions for pound (4 of 4)

Pound
/ (paʊnd) /

noun
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
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

Scientific definitions for pound

pound
[ pound ]

A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 16 ounces (0.45 kilograms). See Table at measurement. See Note at weight.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with pound

pound

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