▪ I. bound, n.1
(baʊnd)
Forms: 3 bunne, (4–5 ? boune), 6–7 bowne, 4–6 bond(e, bounde, 5–7 bownd(e, 4– bound.
[a. OF. bodne, bone, bune, bonne, bunne, also bunde, bonde, 13th c. AF. bounde; in med.L. bodena, bodina (bonna, bunda):—earlier butina (Leg. Ripuar.) = meta, limes. The phonetic history of the Fr. word is difficult; see Littré bonde and borne, and cf. bourne.]
† 1. A landmark indicating the limit of an estate or territory. Obs. exc. in comb.
| c 1205 Lay. 1313 Þa comen heo to þan bunnen þa Hercules makede. c 1300 K. Alis. 5593 Ymages of moundes, That men clepeth Ercules boundes. |
2. a. The boundary line of a territory or estate; gen. a limit or boundary, that to which anything extends in space.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. V. 299 Osca passed nowher his fader bondes. 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, vi. §1 The contract..was made..within the Bounds and Jurisdiction of the same Fair. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xlvi. 62 The frenche kynge..commaunded them to kepe the bondes of Flanders, on payne of their lyues. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. ii. Introd., A platte forme..is inclosed with lines as with his boundes. 1615 Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) I. 77 This day..I made the bownds perfect between my Lands of Kilrobistown. 1635 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. ii. 19 A right line is the shortest betwixt his owne bounds. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) 290 The bounds of all the European kingdoms are..nearly the same they were 200 years ago. 1809 Bawden tr. Domesday Bk. 239 Thormer is situate within the bounds of the Castle of Ilbert. 1839 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. (1847) 19 The apostle travelled to the utmost bounds of the West. |
b. Phrases. to beat the bounds: see beat v. 41. † to gain bounds of: to outstrip.
| 1653 Urquhart Rabelais ii. Prol., Perceiving the prey by force of flight to have gained bounds of her. |
c. pl. The limit or boundary beyond which soldiers, sailors, students, schoolchildren, etc., resident in a particular building, quarters, or area, may not pass. Now chiefly in out of bounds, outside or beyond this boundary.
| 1681 R. Knox Hist. Ceylon iv. ix. 156 Plain reason would tell him, that we being prisoners were without our bounds. c 1805 Regul. Sherborne School, Every other part of the town is out of School bounds, except the Church-Yard. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. ix, The chief offenders..were flogged and kept in bounds. 1865 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 472/1 The reason of putting the river out of bounds was the danger incurred by boys who could not swim. 1890 A. Conan Doyle Firm of Girdlestone v. 32 A lad coming up to an English University..must be within bounds at a fixed time. 1895 [see out of prep. phr. III]. 1909 D. Sladen Trag. Pyramids xiii. 201 The decree of the General, which made the Considines out of bounds for the Army, like a Mohammedan festival. 1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate ii. 43 She got into the car and made him drive out of school bounds, miles away. |
3. a. pl. The territory situated on or near a boundary; a border-land; also land within certain limits, a district, neighbourhood, tract.
| 1340 Ayenb. 206 He [Lot] ssolde guo out of þe cite of sodomme, and alle þe boundes. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. Introd. 41 In all boundis of Scotland..is gret plente of haris. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Scot. (1655) 12 The Chiefs and Principals of the Families in these bounds. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. x. 46 Marquises..were Counts that governed the Marches, or bounds of the Empire. 1823 Scott Peveril I. vii. 126 These rascals, who come hither to annoy a noble lady on my bounds. |
b. sing.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iv. 90 When that this bodie did containe a spirit, A Kingdome for it was too small a bound. |
c. In Tin-mining. The area or extent of ground taken in by a miner.
| 1696 Lond. Gaz. No. 3184/3 Owners of the Tyn Bounds, and Adventurers in Tyn Mines. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Bounds (Cornw.), a tract of tin-ore ground. |
4. fig. A limit with reference to immaterial things, as duration, lawful or possible action, feeling, etc.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 22 Of abstinence he wot no bounde. 1535 Coverdale Job xiv. 5 Thou hast apoynted him [man] his boundes, he can not go beyond them. 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. vii. xvi. (1678) 181 Let this be the bound of Sweating, when the patient begins to wax cold. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. i. i. §3 It is..worth while, to search out the Bounds between Opinion and Knowledge. 1737 H. Walpole Corr. (1820) I. 17, I should be out of all bounds, if I was to tell you half I feel. 1799 Mackintosh Bacon & Locke Wks. 1846 I. 332 He sometimes carried beyond the bounds of calm and neutral reason his repugnance to doctrines. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iii. 188 It..prevented anarchy from breaking bounds. |
5. Comb. and attrib., as bound-line, bound-mark, bound-oak, bound-road, bound-stone, where bound = boundary. bound(s)-beater, one who takes part in the ceremony of beating the bounds; bound(s)-beating, the ceremony of beating the bounds.
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 223 All Europe's *bound-lines,—drawn afresh in blood. |
| 1623 Lisle ælfric on O. & N.T. Pref. ¶17 We can neither know well..the names of places and *bound-markes of our own country. 1826 Scott Malachi Mal. ii. 31 Such a bound-mark as I have described. |
| 1706 Hearne Coll. (1885) I. 242 Y⊇ first was a *Bound-Oak. |
| 1584 Wodrow Soc. Misc. 424 His side of the *Bound Rode. |
| 1909 Essex Rev. XVIII. 188 After the perambulation there was a dinner, jointly with the Little Leighs *bounds-beaters, at the inn. |
| 1927 Sunday at Home June 553/2 The religious part of the *bounds-beating was prohibited. |
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 129 a, The one..somewhat curiously hewed..It should seeme to be a *bound-stone. 1855 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) IV. xxxiii. 78 The divisions of land..continued to be known by these bound-stones down to a late period of the empire. |
Sense 5 in Dict. becomes 6. Add: 5. Chiefly Math. Any number or magnitude such that either none of a specified set of numbers exceeds it, or none is less than it; an upper or lower limit to the magnitude something can have. Freq. as upper bound, lower bound. Cf. supremum n., infimum n.
| 1917 G. H. Hardy in Proc. Cambr. Philos. Soc. XIX. 92 The upper bound. 1953 H. Eves Introd. Hist. Math. xi. 336 Rules for finding an upper bound to the roots of a polynomial. 1966 A. Battersby Math. in Managem. vi. 142 The figure 108, 417 belongs to a useful class of estimates called ‘lower bounds’. We know that, whatever the final allocation may be, it cannot possibly give a lower ‘cost’ than this. 1977 Sci. Amer. Sept. 82/1 Heat generated by the vacuum tubes resulted in their having a relatively short operating life, which placed an upper bound on the size of computers. 1979 Page & Wilson Introd. Computational Combinatorics vi. 148 The quality of the bounds can also affect the amount of work in a calculation. 1986 Nature 23 Oct. 674/1 R. C. Vaughan has obtained substantial improvements to these bounds when n lies between 5 and 9. |
▪ II. bound, n.2
(baʊnd)
[f. bound v.2; but cf. F. bond of same meaning.]
An elastic spring upward or onward; a leap made in an onward career: said both of inanimate bodies and animals, while leap is used only of the latter. Phrases. † to take at the (first) bound: to take up at the first opportunity, at the outset; to do at once. to take before the bound: to be beforehand with. at a bound: by an instantaneous movement. to advance by leaps and bounds: to make startlingly rapid progress.
| a 1553 Udall Royster D. (Arb.) 70 If you coulde haue take it vp at the first bounde, We should..pastime haue founde. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. 73 Youthful and vnhandled colts Fetching mad bounds. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xvi. 422 They resolved to take the matter at the first bound. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 29 'Tis good then to put wings unto them, and to take the ball before the bound. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 181 Th' arch-fellon..At one slight bound high overleap'd all bound Of Hill or highest Wall. a 1719 Addison (J.), The horses started with a sudden bound. 1839 Bailey Festus vii, At every bound I see, I feel The earth rush round. 1879 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. ii. 26 He plunges at a bound into the east. |
▪ III. bound, ppl. a.1
(baʊnd)
Forms: 3–4 bun, bune, 4–5 bon(e, 4–9 boun(e, bown(e, -nn(e, 6 bond, 7–9 dial. boon(e, 9 dial. bawn, 6– bound.
[a. ON. b{uacu}inn, Norweg. būen, pa. pple. of b{uacu}a to get ready, appearing first in the north as būn, afterwards in ME. boun; the added d in the mod. form may be due in part to its being regarded as the pa. pple. of the derived verb boun, and in part to confusion with bound ppl. a.2 = obliged; but cf. other instances as in Mahound, sound, compound, astound, for Mahoun, soun, compoun, astoun, also the vulgar gownd, drownd, etc.]
† 1. Ready, prepared: said both of persons and things. Of persons: Dressed, attired. Also (in 14th c.) At hand, present. Often pleonastically ready boun, ready and boun. Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 2329 Loe her icc amm ammbohht all bun To follȝhenn Godess wille. a 1300 Cursor M. 11595 Son was ioseph redi bun. Ibid. 14376 Namli þas þat has ben bune [Trin. nere] Quen he vpraisid lazarune. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 775 She was bown to goon the wey forth right. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 173 And bed hem alle ben boun · beggeres and oþere. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2756 Bowne on hor best wise in hor bright wedis. 1470 Harding Chron. viii. i, He to paye was so readye and bowne For his vitayle. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 162 At the north⁓gate they were redy bowne. c 1550 Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 133 Pluck vp ȝour herts, and make ȝow bowne. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iii. 41 Like a man to double businesse bound, I stand in pause where I shall first begin. 1768 Ross Helenore 93 (Jam.) The squire..to find her shortly makes him bown. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iv. iii, A band of war Has for two days been ready boune. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 147 Earl Walter..For battle made him boun'. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 228 These..are boon to ride the Borders as in the good olden time. |
2. Prepared or purposing to go, starting, directing one's course, destined. With for (to, into obs.), or adv. of motion. Phrases, homeward bound, outward bound.
| c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 3788 When thai saw him theder bown. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. xii. 33 Deere frend..whodir art thou bone? 1513 Douglas æneis ix. vii. 21 Quhidder ar ȝe boun, ȝe schaw ws plane. 1590 Greene Arcad. (1616) 51 A Barke bound for Arcadie. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. vi. 10 Th' Ambassadours that was bound for England. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 156 ¶1 We may see the Son of Ulysses bound on the same Expedition. 1748 Anson Voy. iii. viii. (ed. 4) 490 He gave out at Macao, that he was bound to Batavia. 1801 Southey Thalaba x. xi, You see a Traveller, Bound upon hard adventures. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 635 The ships which were bound for New England were crowded. 1866 Sir J. Herschel Fam. Lect. Sc. 206 Bound on we know not what errand. |
| fig. 1548 E. Geste Pr. Masse 118 Where oure confessyon is bounde, lette oure hartes be represented. c 1593 Spenser Sonn. viii, Angels come to lead fraile mindes to rest In chast desires, on heavenly beauty bound. |
3. With infinitive, = about (to), going (to), in a fair way (to). Only dial.; to be distinguished from the similar use of bound ppl. a.2, though the latter construction was perhaps suggested by this.
The phrase He is bound to win would, in northern dial., mean merely ‘He is going to win’; in literary Eng. it means ‘He must necessarily win’, the word here being bound ppl. a.2 (Cf. also sense 1, quots. 1470, 1602.)
| 1864 Atkinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘I believe it is boun to be wet’, going to be rain. 1862 Life among Colliers 31 He was so violently sicke he declared he was bound to die. |
▪ IV. bound, ppl. a.2
(baʊnd)
Also 4–6 bounde, 5 boun, bonde. North. bund, bun.
[pa. pple. of bind v.: shortened from bounden.]
1. a. Made fast by a tie, confined; fastened down; bandaged: also fig.
| 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. 263 A synnar bund with the band of syn..is oblissit to thole paine for his syn. 1570 Levins Manip. 221 Bound, ligatus, deuinctus. 1665 J. Spencer Prophecies 74 These Orators have confest themselves greatly straitned and bound up. 1694 W. Salmon Iatrica i. iii. 94/2 The Spasm..not being able to get over the bound place, is hindered from coming to the Head. 1818 Byron Mazeppa xi, My bound and slender frame Was nothing to his angry might. |
† b. transf. of a woman: Pregnant. Cf. band n.1 1 c, bend n.1 1 d, bond n.1 Obs.
| a 1400 Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. (1867) 89 Þe byrde so bryghte with birdyne ȝode bun. c 1450 Lay Folks Mass Bk. 71 We sal pray also for all women þat er bun with childer in þis parichin. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. vi. 103 Quhilk, bund with child, dremit scho did furth bryng. |
† 2. Kept fast in bonds or in prison. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xlii. 7 That thou shuldyst bringe out fro closing the bounde. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 50 To delyuer the bounde owt of pryson. 1611 Bible Heb. xiii. 3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them. |
3. Confined in the bowels, costive. † Also of a cough: Tight, dry (obs.).
| 1530 Palsgr. 306/2 Bounde in the belye, serre au ventre. 1579 J. Jones Preserv. Body & Soul i. xv. 28 The Nurse..shall take such medicines when she is bounde. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 165 They suffer inflamation and are bound in the belly. 1664 Pepys Diary (1879) III. 1 If you are bound or have a fit of y⊇ Stone. 1757 Whytt in Phil. Trans. L. 574 Her cough is still bound. 1777 Fynney ibid. LXVII. 459 She was always in the extremes of being too loose or too bound. |
4. a. Tied in the same bundle; intimately connected. bound up in or with: (fig.) having common interests with, ‘wrapped up’ in, dependent upon.
| 1611 Bible Gen. xliv. 30 His life is bound vp in the lads life. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 449 ¶2 The only Child of a decrepid Father, whose Life is bound up in hers. 1788 T. Jefferson Corr. (1830) 316, I consider their happiness as bound up together. 1841 Disraeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 160 Chaucer, in his political life, was bound up with the party of John of Gaunt. 1857 Dickens Dorrit (Hoppe) Seeing us so bound up in Pet. 1873 Morley Rousseau I. 50 A rapid and volatile constitution..is insensibly bound up with sensibility. |
b. Philol. Designating a grammatical element, such as the present participial ending -ing, the adverbial ending -ly, etc., which occurs only in combination with another (‘bound’ or ‘free’) form.
| 1926 L. Bloomfield in Language II. 155 A form which may be an utterance is free. A form which is not free is bound. Thus, book, the man are free forms; —ing.., —er..are bound forms. 1957 S. Potter Mod. Ling. iv. 78 Book-s..consists of two morphemes, the free form book and the bound form -s (bound because it cannot be used independently). |
† 5. Cohering; of glutinous consistency. Obs.
| 1635 J. Babington Pyrotechn. xix. 23 These oyles must be..wrought up, till you finde your mixture bound like dough. |
6. Of books: Provided with a binding or cover (see bind v. 10). Const. in (leather, vellum, cloth, etc.).
| 1708 Hearne Coll. (1885) II. 159 It was..a bound book. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 37 ¶2 Tales in Verse by Mr. Durfey: Bound in Red Leather, gilt on the Back. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 474 Presenting the sovereign with a richly bound copy of the English Bible. |
7. a. Under obligations (of duty, gratitude, etc.); Const. a person, or the duty owed. b. Having entered into a contract binding to service, as ‘a bound apprentice’.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 57 War noucht I was bonde in my legiance. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 33 It was doubted whether he were more bound to Nature..or to Fortune. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. i. 37 Shall this night appeare How much in duty, I am bound to both. 1645 G. Daniel Poems Wks. 1878 II. 73 For everie Man Is bound to his owne heart. a 1656 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 61 How much am I bound to God, that hath given me eyes. 1752 Johnson Rambl. No. 201 ¶7 He that is not yet hardened by custom..thinks himself bound by his word. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 11 Whoever owned land, was bound to military service. |
c. With inf.: Compelled, obliged; under necessity (esp. logical or moral); fated, certain; also in U.S. determined, resolved (sc. to go, etc.).
(In dialects tied is used in the same sense, as ‘That horse is tied to win’.)
| c 1360 Song Deo Gratias in E.E.P. (1862) 129 A noþer is boun to begge his bred. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9474 Þai were boun to gyffe bake, & the bent leue. 1558 Knox First Blast (Arb.) 5 We in this our miserable age are bounde to admonishe the world. 1607 Fletcher in Shaks. C. Praise 72 Speake, I am bound to heare. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 52 ¶3 We hold our selves in Gratitude bound to receive..all such Persons. 1844 Mrs. Houston Yacht Voy. Texas I. 2, I was bound to be pleased with the arrangements. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. App. 587 The lioness was bound to bring forth only a single cub. 1883 M. E. Braddon Ishmael v, Life is a waiting race, in which the best horse is bound to win. |
8. In comb.: Preceded by a n. in instrumental relation, or by an adj. used adverbially, as hard-bound, love-bound, wind-bound, wood-bound; often with reference to books, as cloth-bound, morocco-bound, parchment-bound; full-bound, whole-bound, bound entirely in leather; half-bound, having the back only, or back and corners, of leather, the rest of the binding being cloth or paper. Also hide-bound, iron-bound, weather-bound, q.v.
| 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4021/3 Iron and Wood-bound Cask, old Yards, Boats. 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 181 Who..strains from hard-bound brains eight lines a year. 1847 Ld. G. Bentinck in Croker Papers (1884) III. xxv. 143, 800 grain⁓laden ships..lying wind-bound..in the gat of Gibraltar. 1873 Kingsbury in Speaker's Comm., Song. Sol. vi. 12 The soul..is here the love-bound heart. 1881 Morley Cobden I. 6 His little parchment-bound diary of expenses. a 1887 Bookseller's Catal., The plates whole bound in russia, extra, gilt edges, the text half bound russia neat. |
9. For I'll be bound, and other uses, see bind v.
¶ = bond a. Subject to servitude, in bondage. Obs. [Due to the later association of bond with bonds and bound: cf. however sense 7 b, and bounden 2 b.]
| 1532 G. Hervet Xenophon's Househ. (1768) 22 Bounde men haue as great nede to be comforted..as other fre men. 1754 Erskine Princ. Sc. Law (1809) 113 All the colliers in Scotland, who were bound colliers at the time..shall be free from their servitude. |
▪ V. bound, v.1
(baʊnd)
[f. bound n.1; not found before the end of 14th c. Cf. OF. bonner, now borner:—med.L. bodināre, bonāre, bundāre.]
† 1. trans. To set bounds to, limit; to confine within bounds; to mark (out) the bounds of. Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 103 Was [Asia] that time bounded so, Wher..Nile..falleth Into the see Alexandrine. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. Prol., All these maners..shulde be..bounded and valued in euery parte. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. Epit. (1612) 358 Caritick with his Britons..were lastly chased and bounded by them from out all parts. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) To Rdr., And with his word boundeth in the raging of the sea. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 135 Before they had parcelled, and bounded out the ground. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 370 He shall..bound his Reign With earth's wide bounds. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 228 In vain he..bounds the distance by the rules of art. |
b. fig.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 218 God..hath al thinge bounded. 1554 Act 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary viii. §38 Such whose Right, Title or Interest is bounded or taken away. 1647 Answ. Lett. to Dr. Turner 19 The Apostles..did in their latter dayes..bound out that power which still we do call Episcopacy. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. i. iv. §12 Exercise of his Faculties was bounded within the Ways, Modes, and Notions of his own Country. 1799 Mackintosh Bacon & Locke Wks. 1846 I. 329 Such facts bound our researches in every part of knowledge. 1842 H. E. Manning Serm. (1848) I. xi. 151 It makes a man..bound himself about by his own horizon. 1850 A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. 3 His views were not bounded by any narrow ideas of expediency. |
† c. intr. To limit itself; be limited. Obs. rare.
| 1705 Luctus Brit. 141 Nor bounds thy Praise to Albions narrow coast. |
2. trans. To form the boundary of.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 73 Lecheum of the one hand, and Cenchræa of the other, do bound out and limit the said streights. 1622–62 Heylin Cosmogr. iii. (1673) 1/1 Asia is bounded on the West, with the Mediterranean. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 257 A line of blue hills that bounded the landscape. 1879 Froude Cæsar xxi. 351 He crossed the little river Rubicon, which bounded his province. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 37 The cavity..is..bounded by the lateral walls of the neighbouring.. cells. |
† b. To enclose, confine, contain; also with in.
| 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 431 Whose veines bound richer blood then Lady Blanch? 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 129 My Mothers bloud Runs in the dexter cheeke, and this sinister Bounds in my fathers. |
3. intr. to bound on: to abut upon, adjoin. to bound with: to have the same boundaries as. arch.
| c 1570 Thynne Pride & Lowl. (1841) 10 These breeches I did bound on on either side. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 109 Troas..bounds on the coast of Hellespontus. 1622 Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 87 The Banks..belong to the subject, whose lands do but and bound thereon. 1637 Earl of Monmouth Romulus & Tarquin 241 Bounding upon madness, it [melancholy] brings men to sublimity. 1792 T. Jefferson Corr. 164 They bound on us between two and three thousand miles. 1858 Beveridge Hist. India III. 269 Territories..bounding with those of British India on the west. |
▪ VI. bound, v.2
(baʊnd)
[ad. Fr. bondir, which signified only to ‘resound’ till the 15th c., when the meaning of to ‘rebound, spring’ first appears, perh. f. L. bombitāre to hum, f. bombus a humming noise. (With the earlier Fr. sense cf. quot. 1601 in 1.)]
† 1. To recoil, rebound. Obs.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. ii. 58. 1601 ― All's Well ii. iii. 314 Why these bals bound, ther's noise in it. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Assurance vii, Thou hast cast a bone Which bounds on thee, and will not down thy throat. |
2. intr. To spring upwards, leap; to advance with leaps or springs: said both of inanimate and animate objects. Also fig.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 265 He leaps, he neighs, he bounds. 1599 ― Hen. V, iii. vii. 13 He bounds from the Earth, as if his entrayles were hayres. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 431 And yet so fiery he would bound, As if he grieved to touch the Ground. 1711 Pope Temple F. 333 Thro' the big dome the doubling thunder bounds. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 167 ¶6 Our hearts bound at the presence of each other. 1798 Wordsw. Tintern Abbey 69 Like a roe I bounded o'er the mountains. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. ii, The waves bound beneath me as a steed That knows his rider. 1853 Lytton My Novel vi. vii. 290 She would..bound forward. |
† 3. trans. To make (a horse) leap. Obs.
| 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. viii. xxxviii. 190 Whether that he trots, or turnes, or bounds his barded Steede. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 146. |
▪ VII. bound, v.3
(baʊnd)
Aphetic form of abound.
| 1568 T. Howell Arb. Amitie 72 If we bound in store: Commodities then offreth made a Salue for euery sore. |
▪ VIII. bound, v.4 rare.
(baʊnd)
[variant of boun v.]
refl. To direct one's course. intr. To go, lead.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 67 The way that does to heaven bownd. 1821 J. Baillie Lady G.B. xiv, She ere stroke of midnight bell, Did bound her for that dismal cell. |
▪ IX. bound
obs. form of bond, boon.