boundary
(ˈbaʊndərɪ)
Also 7 bundary.
[f. bound n.1 + -ary1 B 2.]
1. a. That which serves to indicate the bounds or limits of anything whether material or immaterial; also the limit itself.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §328 Corruption is a Reciprocall to Generation: And they Two, are as Natures two Termes or Bundaries. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxiii. (1693) 168 The simple Ideas we receive from Sensation and Reflection, are the Boundaries of our Thoughts. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 178 ¶3 Providence has fixed the limits of human enjoyment by immoveable boundaries. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §6. 43 The dots representing the boundaries of the ridges. |
b. attrib., as in
boundary-dispute,
boundary-ditch,
boundary fence,
boundary-keeper,
boundary-line,
boundary-mark,
boundary-treaty,
boundary-wall; also
boundary dog Austral. and
N.Z. (see
quot. 1945);
boundary layer, the layer of fluid adjacent to a moving body;
esp. in
Aeronaut., the layer of air adjacent to an aircraft in motion;
boundary light (see
quot. 1951);
boundary-rider Austral. and
N.Z., one who rides round the fences of a station, and repairs them when broken; hence
boundary-riding.
| 1850 A. Lawrence Official Desp. to J. M. Clayton, I have said nothing about the *boundary-disputes of Nicaragua and her neighbours. |
| 1941 Oxoniensia VI. 87 One of the field-systems attached to the..settlement may probably be identified in the *boundary-ditches on the lower half of the air-photograph. |
| 1876 D. Kennedy Colonial Trav. xv. 196 The first [dog] seen was a *boundary dog, chained to a break in a fence, to prevent sheep straying from one run to another. 1945 Baker Austral. Lang. iii. 72 A sheep dog chained to a kennel at a gateway..to prevent sheep passing through is called a boundary-dog. |
| 1857 R. B. Paul Lett. fr. Canterbury ii. 27 The *boundary fence which separates the poor man from the rich. 1926 M. L. Skinner in Adelphi May 794 Somebody's boundary fence beyond the railways. |
| 1933 L. G. D. Acland in Press (N.Z.) 16 Sept. 15/7 *Boundary keeper, a shepherd who keeps sheep from passing an unfenced boundary. |
| 1922 J. M. Burgers in Proc. K. Akad. Wetensch. (Amsterdam) XXIII. 1097 We can calculate the distribution of the vorticity and the current in the *boundary layer, when we suppose the velocity outside the boundary layer to be known. 1924 Flight 20 Nov. 737/1 The deductions from the boundary layer theory gave a rather poor approximation to the truth. 1949 O. G. Sutton Science of Flight ii. 48 The air, because of its viscosity, sticks to the surface of a moving body, and forms a boundary layer. |
| 1937 Reports & Mem., Aeronaut. Res. Committee No. 1793 p. 1, Light signals used in aviation..at the aerodrome..*boundary lights. 1951 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 23 Boundary lights, lights defining the boundary of a landing area. |
| 1705 in Rec. Col. Rhode Island (1858) III. 528 The *boundary lines between this her Majesty's Collony..and her Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay. 1842 H. E. Manning Serm. (1848) I. xii. 167 He that lives on a dubious boundary-line. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 180 The boundary line which parts the domain of law from that of morality. |
| 1878 Morley Diderot 198 The reign of truth was hindered by the artificial *boundary-marks. |
| 1865 Australasian 15 July 13/4 The shepherds and *boundary-riders of the past and present. 1890 E. W. Hornung Bride from Bush xviii. 279 A boundary-rider..sees that the sheep in his paddock ‘draw’ to the water, that there is water for them to draw to, and that the fences and gates are in order. 1944 Living off Land iv. 94 There are no boundary riders on these cattle holdings. |
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer I. x. 149 You'll have messages to carry, *boundary riding to do. |
| 1830 Carlyle in For. Rev. & Cont. Misc. V. 23 These were fair conditions of a *boundary-treaty. |
| 1864 Theol. Rev. Mar. 11 Between science and theology..it is impossible to build a *boundary-wall. |
2. Cricket.
a. The bounds or limit-line of a cricket field.
| 1867 J. Lillywhite's Cricketers' Compan. 7 Always agree at starting..what are the boundaries. 1899 W. G. Grace Cricket. Remin. ii. 23 There were no fixed boundaries at Lord's when I first played there. 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill xii. 248 [He] cut the sixth ball to the boundary. 1920 E. R. Wilson in P. F. Warner Cricket 64 Boundaries..were adopted at Lord's for the Eton v. Harrow match of 1866. |
b. A hit to the boundary; also, the number of runs allowed for the hit.
| 1896 Westm. Gaz. 24 July 5/2 His placing on the leg side, especially off Giffen, was extremely fine, and gave him several boundaries. 1910 Ibid. 26 Feb. 16/2 A four boundary is often the result. 1955 Times 13 July 8/6 He then hit Goddard almost for 6 to long-on and hooked him for another vivid boundary. |
c. attrib., as
boundary-bye,
boundary-hit,
boundary-play,
boundary-stroke.
| 1887 F. Gale Game Cricket ix. xvi. 270 ‘Boundary byes’ ought to be abolished..the batsmen being entitled to run as many as they could. Ibid. 268 There were no boundary hits. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 7 Feb. 3/1 A splendid display of true cricket relieved by free ‘boundary’ play. 1905 Ibid. 15 June 7/1 It was not until the third over of the match that he opened the scoring with a boundary-stroke. |
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Add:
[1.] [b.] boundary condition Math., a condition required to be satisfied along part or all of the boundary of a region within which a given set of differential equations is to be solved.
| 1902 Internat. Catal. Sci. Lit. I. vii. a. 165/2 (heading)Dirichlet's problem and analogous problems, affected by *boundary conditions. 1927 E. L. Ince Ordinary Differential Equations ix. 206 Each boundary condition is equivalent to a linear difference equation connecting yo, y1, ys-1 , and ys . 1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xxviii. 688 These equations must be solved subject to appropriate boundary conditions. |
boundary value Math., a value specified by a boundary condition.
| 1898 Proc. London Math. Soc. XXIX. 373, R consists of terms involving the *boundary values of f (x, y,...), ψ(x, y,...) and their partial differential coefficients. 1957 L. Fox Numerical Solution Two-Point Boundary Probl. iii. 54 If the boundary condition is other than ‘boundary value specified’ the technique needs modification. 1968 E. T. Copson Metric Spaces viii. 125 This boundary value problem has a continuously differentiable solution. |