bound

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   confined by bonds

   bound and gagged hostages

2. 2
   adj

   headed or intending to head in a certain direction

   often used as a combining form as in `college-bound students'

3. 3
   adj

   bound by an oath

   a bound official

4. 4
   noun

   the greatest possible degree of something

   What they did was beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior.

5. 5
   verb

   to place limits on extent or access

   We bound the arena so that it only extends ten miles in all directions.

6. 6
   verb

   to move forward by leaps and bounds

   The horse bounded across the meadow.

7. 7
   verb

   to form the boundary of

   The fence bounds my farmland.

8. 8
   verb

   simple past and past participle of bind

   I bound the splint to my leg.

Etymology

From Middle English *bounden (attested as bounten), from French bondir (“leap", "bound", originally "make a loud resounding noise”); perhaps from Late Latin bombitāre (“hum, buzz”), frequentative verb, from Latin bombus (“a humming or buzzing”).