bound

¹

[ bound ]

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of bind.

adjective

1. tied; in bonds:

   a bound prisoner.

2. made fast as if by a band or bond:

   She is bound to her family.

3. secured within a cover, as a book.
4. under a legal or moral obligation:

   He is bound by the terms of the contract.

   Synonyms: compelled, obliged, liable

5. destined; sure; certain:

   It is bound to happen.

6. determined or resolved:

   He is bound to go.

7. Pathology. constipated.
8. Mathematics. (of a vector) having a specified initial point as well as magnitude and direction. Compare free ( def 32 ).
9. held with another element, substance, or material in chemical or physical union.
10. (of a linguistic form) occurring only in combination with other forms, as most affixes. Compare free ( def 35 ).

-bound

²

1. a combining form of bound ¹:

   snowbound.

bound

³

[ bound ]

verb (used without object)

1. to move by leaps; leap; jump; spring:

   The colt bounded through the meadow.

2. to rebound, as a ball; bounce:

   The ball bounded against the wall.

noun

1. a leap onward or upward; jump.
2. a rebound; bounce.

-bound

⁴

1. a combining form of bound ⁴:

   eastbound.

bound

⁵

[ bound ]

noun

1. Usually bounds. a limit or boundary:

   the bounds of space and time;

   within the bounds of his estate;

   within the bounds of reason.

   Synonyms: confines, frontier, border

2. something that limits, confines, or restrains.
3. bounds,
   1. territories on or near a boundary.
   2. land within boundary lines.
4. Mathematics. a number greater than or equal to, or less than or equal to, all the numbers in a given set. Compare greatest lower bound, least upper bound, lower bound, upper bound.

verb (used with object)

1. to limit by or as if by bounds; keep within limits or confines.
2. to form the boundary or limit of.
3. to name or list the boundary of.

verb (used without object)

1. to abut.

bound

⁶

[ bound ]

adjective

1. going or intending to go; on the way to; destined (usually followed by for ):

   The train is bound for Denver.

2. Archaic. prepared; ready.

bound

¹

/ baʊnd /

verb

1. tr to place restrictions on; limit
2. whenintr, foll by on to form a boundary of (an area of land or sea, political or administrative region, etc)

noun

1. maths
   1. a number which is greater than all the members of a set of numbers (an upper bound ), or less than all its members (a lower bound ) See also bounded
   2. more generally, an element of an ordered set that has the same ordering relation to all the members of a given subset
   3. whence, an estimate of the extent of some set
2. See bounds

bound

²

/ baʊnd /

adjective

1. 1. postpositive, often foll byfor going or intending to go towards; on the way to

      homeward bound

      a ship bound for Jamaica

   2. ( in combination )

      northbound traffic

bound

³

/ baʊnd /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of bind

adjective

1. in bonds or chains; tied with or as if with a rope

   a bound prisoner

2. in combination restricted; confined

   housebound

   fogbound

3. postpositive, foll by an infinitive destined; sure; certain

   it's bound to happen

4. postpositive, often foll byby compelled or obliged to act, behave, or think in a particular way, as by duty, circumstance, or convention
5. (of a book) secured within a cover or binding See also half-bound

   to deliver bound books

6. postpositive, foll byon resolved; determined

   bound on winning

7. linguistics
   1. denoting a morpheme, such as the prefix non- , that occurs only as part of another word and not as a separate word in itself Compare free
   2. (in systemic grammar) denoting a clause that has a nonfinite predicator or that is introduced by a binder, and that occurs only together with a freestanding clause Compare freestanding
8. logic (of a variable) occurring within the scope of a quantifier that indicates the degree of generality of the open sentence in which the variable occurs: in ( x ) ( Fx → bxy ), x is bound and y is free See free
9. bound up with
   closely or inextricably linked with

   his irritability is bound up with his work

10. I'll be bound
    I am sure (something) is true

bound

⁴

/ baʊnd /

verb

1. to move forwards or make (one's way) by leaps or jumps
2. to bounce; spring away from an impact

noun

1. a jump upwards or forwards
2. by leaps and bounds
   with unexpectedly rapid progess

   her condition improved by leaps and bounds

3. a sudden pronounced sense of excitement

   his heart gave a sudden bound when he saw her

4. a bounce, as of a ball

Other Words From

• boundness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bound¹

Past participle and past tense of bind

Origin of bound²

First recorded in 1545–55; from Middle French bond “a leap,” bondir “to leap,” originally “bounce back, echo,” ultimately from Vulgar Latin bombitīre (unattested) for bombitāre “to buzz, whiz” ( Latin bomb(us) ( bomb ) + -it- intensive suffix + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix)

Origin of bound³

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English bounde, from Anglo-French; Old French bone, bonde, variant of bodne, from Medieval Latin budina, of uncertain origin; bourn ²

Origin of bound⁴

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English b(o)un) “ready,” from Old Norse būinn, past participle of būa “to get ready”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bound¹

C13: from Old French bonde , from Medieval Latin bodina , of Gaulish origin

Origin of bound²

C13: from Old Norse buinn , past participle of būa to prepare

Origin of bound³

C16: from Old French bond a leap, from bondir to jump, resound, from Vulgar Latin bombitīre (unattested) to buzz, hum, from Latin bombus booming sound

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. bound up in / with,
   1. inseparably connected with.
   2. devoted or attached to:

      She is bound up in her teaching.

2. out of bounds,
   1. beyond the official boundaries, prescribed limits, or restricted area:

      The ball bounced out of bounds.

   2. forbidden; prohibited:

      The park is out of bounds to students.

More idioms and phrases containing bound

• by leaps and bounds
• duty bound
• honor bound
• out of bounds
• within bounds
• bind

Synonym Study

See skip ¹.

Example Sentences

On the briny side, chloride ions again moved into and bound to the silver electrode, giving up electrons that flowed to the electrode on the watery side.

From Science Magazine

He added: "Moana 2 exhilarates with its tunefulness, and absolutely romps along from the moment the heroine gets off the island, bound for another adventure on her trusty outrigger canoe."

From BBC

Trump’s selection of Bondi confirms "that the next Trump DOJ will be bound to the president instead of being bound to the rule of law," he added in an email.

From Salon

I love to see what out of bounds plays work.

From Los Angeles Times

In his first term, Trump threatened to impose import levies against Mexico if it failed to crack down on U.S.-bound migrants.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• hop
• leap
• prance
• ricochet
• skip
• vault