bind

Formsbinds, binding, bound

Pluralbinds

1. 1
   tie upverbtransitive

   To tie or fasten something tightly, or tie things together, with a cord, band, chain, or similar material.

   Workers bind the cables into neat coils before storing them.

   He bound the prisoner's wrists with a length of cord.

   UsageThe past form is bound: he bound the prisoner's wrists (not incorrect: binded). Often bind something with cord or tape.

   Similartie, fasten, lash, strap, secure

   Oppositeuntie, loosen, release, unfasten

2. 2
   promise or lawverbfigurativelytransitive

   To oblige, restrain, or hold someone through authority, law, duty, a promise, or affection; to have such force.

   Their shared grief seemed to bind the family more closely than ever.

   Tradition binds each new ruler to honor the old agreements.

   UsageOften bind someone to a promise or to do something; in the passive, be bound by a contract or law.

   Similaroblige, obligate, commit, unite, tie

   Oppositerelease, free

   Note

   Obligation rather than rope, and older English kept a special participle for it. Shakespeare's King John has "I am much bounden to your Majesty", meaning obliged or indebted, where modern English would say bound. Milton's Samson Agonistes names the grievance the sense invites: laws made "to bind us, not himself". Restrain and obligate mark its two edges, the curb and the duty. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Older English used bounden as a past participle of bind. en.wiktionary.org
   • Shakespeare's King John contains the quotation; Hubert speaks it to King John in Act III, scene iii. opensourceshakespeare.org
   • Bounden here means obliged or indebted. en.wiktionary.org
   • Milton's Samson Agonistes contains the quoted words about laws; the Chorus speaks them. darkwing.uoregon.edu
3. 3
   hold backverbtransitive

   To confine, restrain, or hold a person or thing by physical force or some other influence.

   The heavy cast bound her leg so tightly that she could barely bend it.

   Thick mud can bind a truck's wheels so tightly that it won't move an inch.

   Similarrestrain, restrict, limit, check, curb

   Oppositefree, release, liberate

   Note

   The extended sense in which no rope is needed: gravity binds the planets to the sun, and frost binds the earth. The King James Bible of 1611 already uses it of floods held back from overflowing and of a woman "whom Satan hath bound" for eighteen years. It also pairs the verb with loosed, the word that undoes it. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Gravity holds the planets in orbit around the sun. spaceplace.nasa.gov
   • Freezing can make the ground hard and firm. nsidc.org
   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
   • The King James Bible uses bind of floods restrained from overflowing, in Job 28:11. en.wikisource.org
   • In Luke 13:16, Jesus describes a woman as bound by Satan for eighteen years, using the quoted words. en.wikisource.org
   • The same biblical passage pairs bound with loosed to describe release. en.wikisource.org
4. 4
   attach (chemistry)verbtransitive

   To join or stick together, or cause substances or particles to join and stick together into one mass.

   Hemoglobin can bind oxygen molecules and carry them through the bloodstream.

   Enzymes bind their target molecules at a specific active site.

   UsageYou can say hemoglobin binds oxygen or oxygen binds to hemoglobin.

   Note

   In chemistry the association can be a true bond or a weaker intermolecular attraction, and the result can be a compound, a complex or a loose aggregate.

5. 5
   fasten pagesverbtransitive

   To fasten printed sheets or pages together within a cover, as in making a book.

   The printer will bind the manuscript in soft leather.

   Medieval monks bound their texts between heavy wooden boards.

6. 6
   tight spotnouncountable

   A troublesome situation; a difficult problem or predicament with no easy way out.

   The new regulations left small businesses in a financial bind.

   He found himself in a bind, unable to satisfy either side.

   UsageUsually in a bind: be in a bind, leave someone in a bind.

   Similarpredicament, trouble, difficulty, jam, fix

7. 7
   connectverbtransitive

   To join or couple two things so that they work or move together.

   In the spreadsheet, you can bind a chart to a table, so the chart updates whenever the numbers change.

   The update lets you bind the two screens, so a change on one shows up on the other.

   Similarcouple, join, link, connect

   Oppositeuncouple, detach, separate

8. 8
   sew an edgeverbtransitive

   To protect or strengthen an edge, as of a carpet or garment, by applying a band or binding along it.

   Tailors bind raw seams to keep the fabric from unraveling.

   The seamstress bound the cuffs with a contrasting strip of cloth.

   Similaredge, trim

9. 9
   assign valueverbtransitive

   To associate an identifier, such as a variable or method name, with a value or a location in storage.

   The interpreter will bind the variable to its value when the function is called.

   In many languages, a let statement binds a variable name to a value.

   UsageThe pattern is bind a name to a value: binds x to 5.

   Similarattach

   Note

   Programmers bind a name to a thing. Real World Haskell (2008) binds "the variable n to the value 2", and Robert Pickering's Beginning F# (2009) binds a string to an identifier. The association may be fixed when the program is compiled or settled only at run time.

Showing meanings only. Show all 21