▪ I. bundle, n.
(ˈbʌnd(ə)l)
Forms: 4–7 bundel, 5 bondel(l, 5–6 bundelle, boundell, (6 byndle), 6–7 bundell, 7– bundle.
[Proximate derivation obscure; ultimately f. *bund- pa. pple. stem of OTeut. *bind-an to bind; the precise form of the suffix is uncertain. Cf. MDu. bondel (mod. bundel), mod.G. bündel; also OHG. gibuntilî, -lîn neut., MHG. gebündel, and OE. byndele wk. fem. ‘act of binding’ (only in Laws of ælfred xxxv.); but these forms are not exactly parallel. The OE. byndele, or the OE. equivalent of any of the continental words quoted, would have yielded mod.Eng. *bindle, so that the form of the existing word seems to point to adoption from Du. or LG., or else to analogy with the pple. bund, ‘bound’.]
† 1. That which binds; a bandage. Obs. rare.
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. ii. 32 Whether forȝete shal..the womman spouse of hir brest bundel [1388 brest girdil, Coverd. stomacher; Vulg. fasciae pectoralis]? |
2. a. A collection of things bound or otherwise fastened together; a bunch; a package, parcel.
In some
spec. uses now superseded by
bunch;
e.g. we no longer speak of ‘a
bundle of keys, of flowers’; but we still say ‘a
bundle of sticks’, etc., not ‘a
bunch’. The most frequent application of the word, when not followed by
of, is to denote a parcel tied up in a handkerchief.
| 1388 Wyclif Song of Sol. i. 12 My derlyng is a bundel of myrre to me. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xcvii, [Flax] bounde in praty nytches & boundel. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 55 Bundelle, fasciculus. 1474 Caxton Chesse 110 On his gurdel a bondel of keyes. 1534 More On Passion Wks. (1557) 1297/1 A boundell of the lowe growing herbe of Ysope. 1577 Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 133 He appeareth now all in violet Silk like a Cloke, and on his head a bundel wreathed of the same. 1636 Healey Theophrast. 26 In his hand a bundle of papers. 1716–18 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. xxiii. 71 How may I send a large bundle to you? 1796 H. Glasse Cookery v. 81 Put in some good broth or gravy, and a bundle of sweet herbs. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. viii. 63 Tied up a..bundle of linen. 1831 Brewster Optics xx. 181 A bundle of glass plates. |
b. Anim. Physiol. A set of muscular or nervous fibres bound closely together.
fibro-vascular (or vascular) bundle (
Veg. Phys.): one of the collections of fibres, vessels, and cells, which constitute the fibro-vascular tissue.
| 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 283 The bundle of Fibres which constitute the Muscle may be small. 1802 Med. & Phys. Jrnl. VIII. 368 The Mollusca..have all the remainder of the common bundle of nerves..contained in the same cavity with the other viscera. 1866 Huxley Phys. xi. (1869) 4 Delicate bundles of nervous filaments, the roots of the spinal nerves. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 232. |
c. Law, in
pl. (see
quots.).
| 1678 Phillips, Bundles, a sort of Records of Chancery, lying in the office of the Rolls; as, the Files of Bills, and Answers in Chancery, the Files of Corpus cum Causa, all writs of Certiorari, with their Certificates, and divers others. 1715 in Kersey. 1721–90 in Bailey. |
d. Twenty hanks, or 60,000 yards, of linen yarn.
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 450 These packages..consist of from quarter of a bundle to five or six bundles. |
e. Iron work. A ‘fagot’ of iron or steel rods for welding together and working into a mass of greater toughness.
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metals I. 98 The whole mass was bound together by collars driven on tight, or by strips of iron wrapped firmly about the bundle. Several of these faggots being thus prepared, were placed in a furnace and brought to a welding heat. |
f. Two reams of printing or brown paper, a quantity fixed by statute.
| 1724 Act 11 Geo. I. c. 7 p. 367/1 Brown Paper, the Bundle containing 40 Quire..3s. 4d. |
g. dial. or
slang. A woman,
esp. a fat one.
Cf. baggage 6 and 7.
| 1830 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia I. 46 Bundle, an opprobrious term applied to females, equivalent to baggage, which perhaps means strictly, a follower of the camp. a 1841 T. Sharp Gloss. Words Warwicksh. (1865) 11 Bundle, a large fat woman. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 753 The ironmould mark the stupid old bundle burned on them. |
h. (See
quot. 1922.) So in
phr. to go a (or the) bundle on: to bet much money on;
fig. to be very fond of.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| [1899 J. Flynt Tramping with Tramps (1900) IV. 392 Bundle, plunder from a robbery.] 1905 ‘H. McHugh’ You can search Me 15 Did they sting you for the whole bundle? 1922 N. & Q. 12th Ser. XI. 206/2 Packet, parcel, and bundle, a considerable sum of money. To say a person ‘won a packet’, &c., or ‘had a parcel (or bundle) on a horse’, infers that a considerabale sum has been won or laid. 1938 D. Runyon Take it Easy ii. 45 So he goes for his entire bundle on Apparition. 1942 H. C. Bailey Dead Man's Shoes xxx. 116 Brewing black, pungent liquor, Bryony said he went the bundle on tea himself. 1957 P. Wildeblood Main Chance xi. 197 ‘I go a bundle on you,’ he said. 1968 A. Diment Bang Bang Birds i. v. 60, I don't go a bundle on being told I'm a pro. 1969 Northern Territory News 11 July 18/2 (Dog Racing) Brindle Louvre..backed for bundles. |
i. slang. A fight or scrap.
| 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid xii. 124 If there was going to be a bundle, he was not going to be bashed sitting down. 1963 ‘A. Garve’ Sea Monks iii. 88 None o'them ain't goin' to start a bundle if he knows his mate's goin' to get shot for it. |
3. a. fig. A collection, ‘lot’ (of things material or immaterial); usually either with contemptuous implication, or with allusion to a figurative ‘tying together’.
† to be bound in the bundle of life (a Hebraism derived from the Bible): to be foreordained to continued life.
| 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. xxv. 29 Then shal the soule of my lorde be bounde in the bundell of y⊇ lyuynge [1611 bound in the bundle of life] euen with the Lorde thy God. 1564 Grindal Rem. (1843) 11 A bundle of the principal nobility of the christian world. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud Ep. i. ii. (1686) 5 A bundle of calumnies. 1768–78 Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 336 A bundle of superstitions and gross absurdities. 1785 Reid Int. Powers 186 A bundle of sensations. 1863 E. Neale Anal. Th. & Nat. 40 The thought of any object is not that of a mere bundle of qualities. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. i. 25 The King and Queen of France, the King of Navarre, and the royal dukes in a bundle. |
b. to drop one's bundle: to give up hope, surrender, resist or compete no further.
Austral. and
N.Z. slang.| 1915 C. J. Dennis Songs Sentim. Bloke (1916) 119 To drop the bundle, to surrender; to give up hope. 1928 Bulletin (Sydney) 7 Mar. 39/1 'E [a dog] wouldn't chase the 'are. 'E dropped 'is bundle. 1947 P. Newton Wayleggo (1949) x. 115 My confidence immediately disappeared. However, I could not ‘drop my bundle’, so into the jungle I went. |
c. Colloq. phr. (to be) a bundle of nerves: (see
quot. 1940). (
Cf. quot. 1802 for sense 2 b.)
| 1940 Partridge Dict. Clichés 35 Bundle of nerves, to be a, to be in an extremely nervous condition; to start at every noise, show irritation at every mishap or hindrance and fear at every alarm. 1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 110, I was just a bundle of nerves. 1965 J. Fleming Nothing is the Number ii. viii. 116, I am haunted, shadowed. ‘A bundle of nerves’ is the English idiom, is it not? |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
bundle handkerchief:
bundle-man Naut. slang, a married seaman (see
quot. 1925);
bundle pillar (see
quot.);
bundle-ring, ring of fibro-vascular bundles; so
bundle-system,
-tube;
bundle-sheath, the sheath investing each fibro-vascular bundle, the endodermis;
bundle-wood, firewood made up into bundles;
bundle-yarn, yarn made up in bundles (see sense 2 d).
| 1884 Pall Mall G. 11 Sept. 4/2 Crowds..with huge carpet bags, tin boxes and *bundle handkerchiefs. |
| 1895 United Service Mag. 518 If one of the officers is on the sick list it is well to have a spare room in the *bundle-man's house. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 39 Bundle-man, a, a Lower Deck phrase for a married man, apparently suggested by the small bundle tied up with a blue handkerchief which married seamen..usually take ashore with them when going on leave. |
| 1876 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., *Bundle Pillar, in Gothic architecture, a column consisting of a number of small pillars around its circumference. |
| 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 258 In the internode of Nepenthes there is found an inner typical *bundle-ring. |
| 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 123 Masses of tissue accompany the separate fibro-vascular bundles as..envelopes or sheaths; these I term generally *Bundle-sheaths. |
| 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 248 A..number of Dicotyledons..differ in their *bundle-system from that which characterises their allies. |
| 1879 Good Words 781/1 These great yards are the storage ground of the ‘*bundle’ fire-wood trade. Ibid. 781/2 The bundle wood coming into his own household. |
| 1883 Daily News 3 Oct. 2/6 The market for *bundle yarns. |
▸
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
bundle of joy n. a baby.
| 1924 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune (Electronic text) 30 Jan. My husband..finally consented and now we have our little bundle of joy. 1940 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. 19 Oct. 12/1 [They] are expecting a bundle of joy. 2006 Daily Post (Liverpool) (Nexis) 17 Jan. The blue-eyed bundle of joy that sits beside her..is nine months old. |
▪ II. ˈbundle, v. [f. prec. n.] 1. trans. To tie in, or make
up into, a bundle.
| 1649 Apparitions at Woodstock, in Hone Every-day Bk. II. 584 The..oak..they had..bundled up into faggots. 1756 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. xcvi. IV. 76, I bundle up all your letters. 1783 Cowper Task iv. 668 Flow'rs..bundled close to fill some crowded vase. 1828 H. Steuart Planter's G. 249 Care must be taken to bundle up all the flexible parts of the roots. 1859 M. Scott Tom Cringle x. 204 The cape..was bundled..into a round heap. 1862 C. M. Yonge C'tess Kate vi. 63 She..bundled up her hair as best she might. |
b. To ‘fagot’ bar iron for the purpose of welding it together.
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metals I. 98 To cause bar iron..to be closely fagotted or bundled together. |
c. To wrap in warm, heavy, or cumbersome clothing, etc. Usu. in
pass. and with
up.
| 1893 in Funk Stand. Dict. 1923 R. Macaulay Told by Idiot ii. vi. 85 The two children were bundled up in bear-skin coats. 1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate i. xiii. 135 Lady Montdore was hardly visible, bundled up in her corner. 1957 E. Eager Magic by Lake iv. 85 The four children found themselves seated in the middle of it, suitably bundled up and befurred. 1967 W. Styron Confessions of Nat Turner i. 32 Men and women bundled against the cold had commenced to hurry up the road. 1976 A. Haley Roots (1977) cii. 548 He saw the usually bedridden Uncle Pompey sitting outside his cabin in an old cane chair, bundled in a heavy quilt. |
† 2. fig. To collect, to gather into a mass. (Usually with
up or
together.)
Obs.| a 1628 F. Greville Sidney (1652) 235 The former recited particulars, howsoever improperly..bundled up together. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 541, I have bundled up all his sins together..for a meet day of punishment. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. v. (1695) 243 Under one Term, bundle together a great variety of..Ideas. |
3. intr. To pack up one's effects in preparation for a journey; hence, to go with all one's luggage or incumbrances. Of a number of persons: To go precipitately and in disorder, ‘all in a bundle’ (
cf. 4): chiefly with
in,
off,
out; also used with
sing. subj. and in extended use.
| 1787 Burns Prose Wks. 25 The devil's bagpiper will touch him off ‘Bundle and go!’ 1802 G. Colman Poor Gentl. v. iii. (L.) Is your ladyship's honour bundling off then? 1845 Kinglake Eothen xviii. 282 He made both his wives bundle out. 1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I. 219/1 Bundle... To set off in a hurry. a 1863 Whately in Miss Whately Life & Corr. (1866) II. 428 ‘Curates, rectors, archdeacons, deans, bundle in, bundle in!’ 1879 Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 109 So in we bundled—I and those God gave me once. 1954 D. Abse Ash on Young Man's Sleeve 152 Leo bundled out of the train. 1984 W. Golding Paper Men i. 10, I bundled into my dressing gown, shoved on my slippers. |
4. trans. To put or send (persons or things)
away,
in,
off,
out, etc., hurriedly and unceremoniously.
Cf. ‘pack off’, ‘send packing’.
| 1823 Scott Peveril (1865) 63, I will bundle away her rags to the Hall. 1830 De Quincey Bentley Wks. VII. 39 When he and his are all bundled off to Hades. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xvi. 300 She..bundled him into the hut. 1876 E. Jenkins Blot on Queen's H. 5 They were bundled out pretty quick. 1878 C. Bethell in Law Rep. (1887) 18/1, I have been bundled off to the Cape for a year. |
5. intr. To sleep in one's clothes on the same bed or couch
with (as was formerly customary with persons of opposite sexes, in Wales and New England).
| 1781 S. Peters Gen. Hist. Connecticut (Bartlett) It is thought but a piece of civility to ask [a lady] to bundle. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (Bartlett) Van Corlear stopped occasionally in the villages to..dance at country frolics, and bundle with the Yankee lasses. 1842–78 [see bundling vbl. n.]. |