ironbound

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   bound, reinforced, or covered with iron

   Renfield pressed himself against the chapel's ironbound oak door.

2. 2
   adj

   rugged, rocky, and difficult to approach, especially of a coastline

   Waves broke continuously against the island's ironbound coast.

3. 3
   adj

   rigid, inflexible, or resistant to change

   The reformers struggled against ironbound traditions that governed every ceremony.

A compound of iron + bound, the past participle of bind. The literal sense describes something strengthened with iron bands; figurative extensions compare rugged coasts and inflexible customs to a structure that is hard, fastened, and resistant to force.

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