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bind

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

From Middle English binden, from Old English bindan, from Proto-West Germanic *bindan, from Proto-Germanic *bindaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéndʰ-e-ti, from *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”).

See also West Frisian bine, Dutch binden, Low German binnen, binden, German binden, Danish binde; also Welsh ben (“cart”), Latin offendīx (“knot, band”), Lithuanian beñdras (“partner”), Albanian bind (“to convince, to awe, to spell”), Ancient Greek πεῖσμα (peîsma, “cable, rope”), Persian بستن (bastan, “to bind”), Sanskrit बन्धति (bándhati). Doublet of bandana.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /baɪnd/, /baɪn/ (when followed by "the, this, their" and similar words)
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪnd

Verb

bind (third-person singular simple present binds, present participle binding, simple past bound or (nonstandard) binded, past participle bound or (nonstandard) binded or (archaic, rare) bounden or (obsolete) ybound or (obsolete) ybounden)

  1. (intransitive) To tie; to confine by any ligature.
  2. (intransitive) To cohere or stick together in a mass.
    We’ll throw it in just to make the cheese more binding.
    • 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:
      unlocks their [clay’s] binding Quality.
  3. (intransitive) To 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. (intransitive) To exert a binding or restraining influence.
    These are the ties that bind.
  5. (transitive) To tie or fasten tightly together, with a cord, band, ligature, chain, etc.
    Synonyms: fetter, make fast, tie, fasten, restrain
    To bind grain in bundles.
    To bind a prisoner.
  6. (transitive) To confine, restrain, or hold by physical force or influence of any kind.
    Synonyms: curtail, restrain; see also Thesaurus:curb
    Gravity binds the planets to the sun.
    Frost binds the earth.
  7. (transitive) To couple.
  8. (figuratively) To oblige, restrain, or hold, by authority, law, duty, promise, vow, affection, or other social tie.
    Synonyms: restrain, restrict, obligate
    to bind the conscience.
  9. (law) To put (a person) under definite legal obligations, especially, under the obligation of a bond or covenant.
  10. (law) To place under legal obligation to serve.
    Synonym: indenture
    To bind an apprenticeship.
    To bound out to service.
  11. (transitive) To protect or strengthen by applying a band or binding, as the edge of a carpet or garment.
  12. (transitive, archaic) To make fast (a thing) about or upon something, as by tying; to encircle with something.
    To bind a belt about one.
    To bind a compress upon a wound.
  13. (transitive) To cover, as with a bandage.
    Synonyms: bandage, dress
    To bind up a wound.
  14. (transitive, archaic) To prevent or restrain from customary or natural action, as by producing constipation.
    Certain drugs bind the bowels.
  15. (transitive) To put together in a cover, as of books.
    The three novels were bound together.
  16. (transitive, chemistry) To make two or more elements stick together.
  17. (transitive, programming) To associate an identifier with a value; to associate a variable name, method name, etc. with the content of a storage location.
    • 2008, Bryan O'Sullivan, John Goerzen, Donald Bruce Stewart, Real World Haskell, page 33:
      We bind the variable n to the value 2, and xs to "abcd".
    • 2009, Robert Pickering, Beginning F#, page 123:
      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 […]
  18. (transitive, programming) To process one or more object modules into an executable program.
  19. (UK, dialect) To complain; to whine about something.
    • 1980, Iris Murdoch, Nuns And Soldiers:
      "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?"
  20. (intransitive, LGBTQ) To 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.
    I hear binder tech has improved since I last bound.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

bind (countable and uncountable, plural binds)

  1. (countable) That which binds or ties.
  3. (countable) A troublesome situation; a problem; a predicament or quandary.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:difficult situation
  4. Any twining or climbing plant or stem, especially a hop vine; a bine.
  5. (music, countable) A ligature or tie for grouping notes.
  6. (chess, countable) A strong grip or stranglehold on a position, which is difficult for the opponent to break.
    the Maróczy Bind
  7. The indurated clay of coal mines, or other overlying substances such as sandstone or shale.

Usage notes

The phrase to see the bind that someone is in (sense 2) has evolved in the 21st century, such that it is now just as often a sarcastic joke as not: it feigns sympathy in a situation that deserves little or no sympathy. Thus, for example, the company could avoid doing shortsighted things that undermine its long-term prospects, but if it did then today's stock price would be slightly lower, so you can see the bind they're in.

Derived terms

Translations

References

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Albanian

Dutch

Faroese

German

Nawdm

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Nynorsk

Old Irish

Romanian

Swedish

Wolof

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