pound

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A unit of weight equal to about 454 grams (16 ounces).

   The recipe calls for two pounds of flour.

2. 2
   verb

   To hit something hard and repeatedly.

   He pounded on the door until someone answered.

3. 3
   verb

   To crush something into small pieces by beating it.

   She pounded the spices into a fine powder.

4. 4
   noun

   A place where stray animals are kept until they are claimed.

   They adopted a dog from the local pound.

From Middle English pound, from Old English pund (“a pound, weight”), from Proto-West Germanic *pund, from Proto-Germanic *pundą (“pound, weight”), an early borrowing from Latin pondō (“by weight”), ablative form of pondus (“weight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to pull, stretch”). Cognate with Dutch pond, German Pfund, Danish pund and Swedish pund. Doublet of funt, pfund, pood, and punt.

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