bind

present singular third person binds · participle present binding · past bound · nonstandard past binded · participle past bound · nonstandard participle past binded · archaic participle past rare bounden · obsolete participle past ybound · obsolete participle past ybounden

1. intransitiveTo tie; to confine by any ligature.

   They that reap must sheaf and bind.

   c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

2. intransitiveTo cohere or stick together in a mass.

   We’ll throw it in just to make the cheese more binding.

   1 more example

   unlocks their [clay’s] binding Quality.

   1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC

3. intransitiveTo be restrained from motion, or from customary or natural action, as by friction.

   I wish I knew why the sewing machine binds up after I use it for a while.

4. intransitiveTo exert a binding or restraining influence.

   These are the ties that bind.

5. transitiveTo tie or fasten tightly together, with a cord, band, ligature, chain, etc.

   To bind a prisoner.

   1 more example

   To bind grain in bundles.

   Synonyms: fetter, make fast, tie, fasten, restrain

6. transitiveTo confine, restrain, or hold by physical force or influence of any kind.

   Frost binds the earth.

   3 more examples

   Gravity binds the planets to the sun.

   He bindeth the flouds from ouerflowing, and the thing that is hid, bringeth he foorth to light.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 28:11

   And ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, loe these eighteene yeeres, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 13:16

   Synonyms: curtail, restrain, behedge, guard, govern, smother, chasten, choke back

7. transitiveTo couple.
8. figurativelyTo oblige, restrain, or hold, by authority, law, duty, promise, vow, affection, or other social tie.

   to bind the conscience.

   4 more examples

   I am much bounden to your Maieſty.

   c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 11, column 2

   In the concluding whereof Sir Thomas More so worthily handled himself, procuring in our league far more benefits unto this realm, than at that time, by the king or his council was thought possible to be compassed, that for his good service in that voyage, the king, when he after made him Lord Chancellor, caused the Duke of Norfolk openly to declare to the people, as you shall hear hereafter more at large, how much all England was bounden unto him.

   1626, William Roper, S. W. Singer, The Mirrour of Vertue in Worldly Greatnes. Or The Life of Syr Thomas More Knight, sometime Lo. Chancellour of England, new revised and corrected edition, Paris [i.e. Saint-Omer]: [Printed at the English College Press], →OCLC; republished as The Life of Sir Thomas More, by His Son-in-law, William Roper, Esq. […], Chiswick, London: From the press of C[harles] Whittingham, for R. Triphook, […], 1822, →OCLC, page 36

   Who made our Laws to bind us, not himſelf,

   1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 25, line 310

   He'll mind, I reckon, not getting any work out'n me, but I won't be bounden to him any longer. How can he keep me if I ain't bounden to him?

   1963, William A. Owens, chapter 2, in Look to the River, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum; republished as Look to the River (Texas Tradition Series; 8), Fort Worth, Tex.: Texas Christian University Press, 1988, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 20

   Synonyms: restrain, restrict, obligate

9. lawTo put (a person) under definite legal obligations, especially, under the obligation of a bond or covenant.
10. lawTo place under legal obligation to serve.

    To bound out to service.

    1 more example

    To bind an apprenticeship.

    Synonyms: indenture

11. transitiveTo protect or strengthen by applying a band or binding, as the edge of a carpet or garment.
12. archaictransitiveTo make fast (a thing) about or upon something, as by tying; to encircle with something.

    To bind a belt about one.

    1 more example

    To bind a compress upon a wound.

13. transitiveTo cover, as with a bandage.

    To bind up a wound.

    Synonyms: bandage, dress

14. archaictransitiveTo prevent or restrain from customary or natural action, as by producing constipation.

    Certain drugs bind the bowels.

15. transitiveTo put together in a cover, as of books.

    The three novels were bound together.

16. transitivechemistryTo make two or more elements stick together.
17. transitivecomputingTo associate an identifier with a value; to associate a variable name, method name, etc. with the content of a storage location.

    We bind the variable n to the value 2, and xs to "abcd".

    2008, Bryan O'Sullivan, John Goerzen, Donald Bruce Stewart, Real World Haskell, page 33

    1 more example

    You can bind an identifier to an object of a derived type, as you did earlier when you bound a string to an identifier of type obj[…]

    2009, Robert Pickering, Beginning F#, page 123

18. transitivecomputingTo process one or more object modules into an executable program.
19. UKdialectalTo complain; to whine about something.

    "But it's not much good piling up the pix if I can't sell them." "Oh do stop binding. Think of something. How will we eat, where will we sleep?"

    1980, Iris Murdoch, Nuns And Soldiers

20. intransitiveTo wear a binder so as to flatten one's chest to give the appearance of a flat chest, usually done by trans men.

    I haven't binded since I got my top surgery.

    1 more example

    I hear binder tech has improved since I last bound.

plural binds

1. countableThat which binds or ties.
2. countableA troublesome situation; a problem; a predicament or quandary.

   Synonyms: ass in a sling, bucket of syrup, calvary, cauldron, cross, cross to bear, difficulty, dilemma

3. countableuncountableAny twining or climbing plant or stem, especially a hop vine; a bine.
4. countableentertainmentA ligature or tie for grouping notes.
5. countableboard gamesA strong grip or stranglehold on a position, which is difficult for the opponent to break.

   the Maróczy Bind

6. countableuncountableThe indurated clay of coal mines, or other overlying substances such as sandstone or shale.