bind
Americanverb (used with object)
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to fasten or secure with a band or bond.
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to encircle with a band or ligature.
She bound her hair with a ribbon.
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to swathe or bandage (often followed byup ).
to bind up one's wounds.
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to fasten around; fix in place by girding.
They bound his hands behind him.
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to tie up (anything, as sheaves of grain).
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to cause to cohere.
Ice bound the soil.
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to unite by any legal or moral tie.
to be bound by a contract.
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to hold to a particular state, place, employment, etc..
Business kept him bound to the city.
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to place under obligation or compulsion (usually used passively).
We are bound by good sense to obey the country's laws.
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Law. to put under legal obligation, as to keep the peace or appear as a witness (often followed byover ).
This action binds them to keep the peace. He was bound over to the grand jury.
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to make compulsory or obligatory.
to bind the order with a deposit.
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to fasten or secure within a cover, as a book.
They will bind the new book in leather.
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to cover the edge of, as for protection or ornament.
to bind a carpet.
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(of clothing) to chafe or restrict (the wearer).
This shirt binds me under the arms.
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Medicine/Medical. to hinder or restrain (the bowels) from their natural function; constipate.
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to indenture as an apprentice (often followed byout ).
In his youth his father bound him to a blacksmith.
verb (used without object)
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to become compact or solid; cohere.
The eggs and the flour bind, creating a stable cake.
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to be obligatory.
It is a duty that binds.
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to chafe or restrict, as poorly fitting garments.
This jacket binds through the shoulders.
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to get stuck or cease to move freely.
Overheating made the drill bit bind in the wood.
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to temporarily flatten one's breast tissue using compression garments or strips of fabric, often done by gender-diverse people as part of their gender expression.
I feel pretty masculine today, so I think I'll bind.
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Falconry. (of a hawk) to grapple or grasp prey firmly in flight (usually followed byto ).
The falcon binds to the pheasant and then carries it to the hunter.
noun
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the act or process of binding; the state or instance of being bound.
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something that binds.
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Informal. a difficult situation or predicament.
This schedule has us in a bind.
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Music. a tie, slur, or brace.
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Falconry. the act of binding to prey in flight.
verb phrase
verb
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to make or become fast or secure with or as if with a tie or band
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to encircle or enclose with a band
to bind the hair
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(tr) to place (someone) under obligation; oblige
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(tr) to impose legal obligations or duties upon (a person or party to an agreement)
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(tr) to make (a bargain, agreement, etc) irrevocable; seal
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(tr) to restrain or confine with or as if with ties, as of responsibility or loyalty
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(tr) to place under certain constraints; govern
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to bandage or swathe
to bind a wound
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to cohere or stick or cause to cohere or stick
egg binds fat and flour
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to make or become compact, stiff, or hard
frost binds the earth
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(tr) to enclose and fasten (the pages of a book) between covers
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(intr) (of a book) to undergo this process
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(tr) to provide (a garment, hem, etc) with a border or edging, as for decoration or to prevent fraying
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(tr; sometimes foll by out or over) to employ as an apprentice; indenture
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slang (intr) to complain
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(tr) logic to bring (a variable) into the scope of an appropriate quantifier See also bound 1
noun
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something that binds
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the act of binding or state of being bound
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informal a difficult or annoying situation
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another word for bine
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music another word for tie
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mining clay between layers of coal
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fencing a pushing movement with the blade made to force one's opponent's sword from one line into another
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chess a position in which one player's pawns have a hold on the centre that makes it difficult for the opponent to advance there
Other Word Forms
- bindable adjective
- misbind verb
- rebind verb
Etymology
Origin of bind
First recorded before 1000; Middle English binden (verb), Old English bindan; cognate with Old High German bintan, Old Norse binda, Gothic bindan, Sanskrit bandhati “(he) binds”
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.
