binding

Pluralbindings

1. 1
   adjective

   Imposing requirements or obligations that must be honored.

   The treaty is binding on all member states.

   Arbitration produced a binding decision both companies had to accept.

   Similarobligatory, mandatory, compulsory, enforceable

   Oppositenonbinding, optional, voluntary, advisory

   Note

   Law gives this sense most of its work. Built in Middle English from bind plus -ing, it pictures an obligation as a cord that holds the parties to their word. Its usual partner is legally: a legally binding agreement, a sworn statement that is legally binding. It takes on to name who is held, as in binding on all member states.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The back edge of a book, along which its pages are fastened together.

   Centuries of handling had loosened the manuscript's binding.

   A skilled craftsman repaired the leather binding by hand.

   Similarspine, cover

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A length of material, most often rope, tape, or string, used for fastening two or more things together.

   She wrapped a tight binding of twine around the broken handle.

   The crate's bindings held firm during the rough voyage.

   Similartie, band, lashing, fastening

4. 4
   verb

   Present participle of bind.

   He is binding the sheaves of wheat into bundles.

   Workers were binding the cables together along the wall.

   Note

   The verb form behind the nouns and adjectives of this word does two jobs. After a form of be it builds the progressive (he is binding the sheaves). On its own it is a verbal noun naming the activity. Like bind itself, it works with an object, as in binding the cables, or without one, as when parts bind by sticking or by friction.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A finishing applied to a seam or hem of a garment.

   The tailor stitched a satin binding around the jacket's cuffs.

   A contrasting binding ran along the hem of the dress.

   Similaredging, trim

   Note

   A dressmaker's edge rather than a fastening: a narrow strip of fabric folded over a raw seam or hem and stitched down, enclosing the edge so it cannot fray. Because it stays visible, it can decorate as well as protect, in satin or a contrasting color. Unlike the rope-and-tape sense, it holds nothing together; it finishes.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   In computing, the connection made between a name and the program element it refers to.

   The interpreter looks up the binding for each variable as it runs.

   A new binding is created whenever you declare a variable.

   Note

   What programmers ask about this kind of binding is when it happens. A name can be tied to its variable, function or value at compile time or only at run time, and the everyday vocabulary follows from that picture: a declaration creates a binding, and the interpreter looks one up as the program runs.

7. 7
   noununcountable

   The process by which two or more molecules attach to each other, or the attachment that results.

   The antibody's binding to the antigen triggers an immune response.

   Researchers measured the binding between the enzyme and its substrate.

   Similarbonding, attachment

   Note

   Chemists use this sense for molecules that attach to one another, as when a ligand meets its receptor, an antibody its antigen, or two strands of DNA pair. The forces involved may be chemical bonds or weaker intermolecular attractions. It takes to for the partner attached to, as in binding to the antigen, and between when both partners are named.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   In programming, code that lets a library be used from a programming language other than the one it was written in.

   The Rust binding exposes the entire graphics library to application code.

   Maintaining the binding became hard whenever the underlying C library changed.

   Similarwrapper

   Note

   Here the word names a bridge between languages, and it usually carries the target language as a label: the Python binding, the Rust binding. The layer maps data types and calling conventions across the boundary so that code in one language can call a library written in another. It is a different idea from the name-to-value association, though both belong to programming.

9. 9
   adjective

   Of a food or medicine, tending to slow the bowels and so check diarrhea.

   Rice and toast are often recommended as binding foods during a stomach bug.

   He found the plain cheese surprisingly binding after days of illness.

   Oppositelaxative

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