bind over

English

Verb

bind over (third-person singular simple present binds over, present participle binding over, simple past and past participle bound over)

1. (law, transitive) To compel someone to do, or abstain from, a particular act.
   • 2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 48:

     In Middlesex, instead of being tried by jury, hundreds of suspected adulterers were instead bound over by magistrates – in other words, forced to end their alleged relationships, find respectable citizens to post bail for their good behviour, and appear in court to answer for their future conduct.

Anagrams

• ovenbird, overbind