# binding

Pronunciation: say "BYN-ding" /ˈbaɪndɪŋ/

## Adjective

1. Imposing requirements or obligations that must be honored.
   - Simple: Making a rule or promise that must be obeyed and cannot be broken.
   - _The treaty is binding on all member states._
   - _Arbitration produced a binding decision both companies had to accept._
9. Of a food or medicine, tending to slow the bowels and so check diarrhea.
   - Simple: Helping to stop diarrhea by making stool firmer.
   - _Rice and toast are often recommended as binding foods during a stomach bug._
   - _He found the plain cheese surprisingly binding after days of illness._

## Noun

2. The back edge of a book, along which its pages are fastened together.
   - Simple: The part along the edge of a book where all the pages are joined.
   - _Centuries of handling had loosened the manuscript's binding._
   - _A skilled craftsman repaired the leather binding by hand._
3. A length of material, most often rope, tape, or string, used for fastening two or more things together.
   - Simple: Something such as rope or string used to tie things together.
   - _She wrapped a tight binding of twine around the broken handle._
   - _The crate's bindings held firm during the rough voyage._
5. A finishing applied to a seam or hem of a garment.
   - Simple: A strip of cloth sewn along the edge of clothing to finish it neatly.
   - _The tailor stitched a satin binding around the jacket's cuffs._
   - _A contrasting binding ran along the hem of the dress._
6. In computing, the connection made between a name and the program element it refers to.
   - Simple: A link that connects a name to a part of a computer program.
   - _The interpreter looks up the binding for each variable as it runs._
   - _A new binding is created whenever you declare a variable._
7. The process by which two or more molecules attach to each other, or the attachment that results.
   - Simple: When two or more tiny particles join and hold onto each other.
   - _The antibody's binding to the antigen triggers an immune response._
   - _Researchers measured the binding between the enzyme and its substrate._
8. In programming, code that lets a library be used from a programming language other than the one it was written in.
   - Simple: Code that lets a program in one language use a tool built in another.
   - _The Rust binding exposes the entire graphics library to application code._
   - _Maintaining the binding became hard whenever the underlying C library changed._

## Verb

4. Present participle of bind. — present participle and gerund of bind
   - Simple: Present participle of bind. Use this form for an action happening right now.
   - _He is binding the sheaves of wheat into bundles._
   - _Workers were binding the cables together along the wall._

## Origin

From Middle English byndynge, equivalent to bind plus the suffix -ing.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/binding (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).