bandh

B3A1N1D2H4

noun

A general strike, shutdown, or other form of protest used in South Asia in which a substantial portion of the population stays home and does not report to work.

UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

nounbandh (plural bandhs)

plural bandhs · alternative bundh · alternative bund

  1. South AsiaA general strike, shutdown, or other form of protest used in South Asia in which a substantial portion of the population stays home and does not report to work.

    A week-long bandh was in progress. People had nothing to do.

    2011, Arupa Patangia Kalita, translated by Deepika Phukan, The Story of Felanee
    2 more examples

    The impending course of events and the patterns of violence could have readily been foreseen after the incident in Godhra, and particularly after the VHP's declaration of a state-wide bandh, both by the city's residents and government authorities […]

    2007, Ornit Shanri, Communalism, Caste and Hindu Nationalism: The Violence in Gujarat

    Opposition parties said that the bandh was a success. The ruling parties said the opposite. Some saw government insensitivity in the bandh and the beginning of the fight against inflationary trends.

    2013, Purnendu Ghosh, The Rising Sun, page 26

Origin

  1. Sanskritबन्ध
  2. Hindiबंध“closure”
  3. Englishbandh

Borrowed from Hindi बंध (bandh, “closure”), from Sanskrit बन्ध (bandha). Doublet of bund (“a type of enclosure”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

bandh. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bandh

MLA

“bandh.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bandh. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bandh,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bandh.

Source: bandh on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.