bind
bind
(bīnd) verb
bound (
bound), binding, binds
verb
, transitive
1.
To tie or secure, as with a rope or cord.
2.
To fasten or wrap by encircling, as with a belt or ribbon.
3.
To bandage: bound up their wounds.
4.
To hold or restrain with or as if with bonds.
5.
To compel, obligate, or unite: bound by a deep sense of duty; bound by a common interest in sports.
6.
Law. To place under legal obligation by contract or oath.
7. To make certain or irrevocable: bind the deal with a down payment.
8. To apprentice or indenture: was bound out as a servant.
9. To cause to cohere or stick together in a mass: Bind the dry ingredients with milk and eggs.
10. To enclose and fasten (a book or other printed material) between covers.
11. To furnish with an edge or border for protection, reinforcement, or ornamentation.
12. To constipate.
13. To form a chemical bond with.
verb
, intransitive
1.
To tie up or fasten something.
2.
To stick or become stuck: applied a lubricant to keep the moving parts from binding.
3.
To be uncomfortably tight or restricting, as clothes.
4.
To become compact or solid; cohere.
5.
To be compelling or unifying: the ties that bind.
6.
To form a chemical bond.
noun
1.
a. The act of binding. b. The state of being bound. c. Something that binds. d. A place where something binds: a bind halfway up the seam of the skirt.
2. Informal. A difficult, restrictive, or unresolvable situation: found themselves in a bind when their car broke down.
3. Music. A tie, slur, or brace.
phrasal verb.
bind off
To cast off in knitting. bind over Law
To hold on bail or place under bond.
[Middle English binden, from Old English bindan.]