bound

BOWND/ˈbaʊnd/

Verbbounds, bounding, bounded

Noun pluralbounds

17 meanings of bound

Practice

1
tied (past)verb
Simple past and past participle of bind.
The treaty bound both nations to a lasting peace.
The workers bound the loose sheaves into neat bundles.
UsageBind becomes bound: they bound his hands. The leaping verb is different: a rabbit bounded away.
2
sure to happenadjectivewith infinitive
Certain or very likely to happen or to do something.
Such a careless plan was bound to fail eventually.
Given her talent and drive, she is bound to succeed.
UsageCommon in it was bound to happen and you're bound to + verb, meaning something will surely happen.
Similarsure, certain, destined, likely, fated
Oppositeunlikely
Note
Followed by an infinitive, it makes a confident forecast: Creedence Clearwater Revival used it in 1969 to warn that a night out would surely prove fatal. Its history is disputed: it may come from bind, by way of being compelled, or from the "ready" meaning. Watch for the "obliged" sense, which takes the same infinitive: "you are bound to tell her" can mean you must or you surely will, and only context decides.
3
heading foradjective
Headed toward a particular place, or ready to set out for it.
The cargo ship was bound for the southern ports when the storm hit.
Travelers bound for the coast packed the early morning buses.
UsageBound for a place: a ship bound for Lisbon. It can also follow a direction word: homeward bound.
Similarheaded, destined
Note
The readiness of a traveler about to set out slid into the direction of travel itself. Shakespeare's The Tempest already has a fleet "bound sadly home for Naples." It applies to things as freely as to people, whether a ship, a cargo or a message.
4
requiredadjectivewith infinitive
Required or obligated to do something, whether by law, duty, or promise.
The witness was bound by oath to answer every question honestly.
As a guardian, he is bound to act in the child's best interest.
UsageUsually bound to + verb, or bound by an oath, law or contract. Legally bound makes the duty meaning clear.
Similarobliged, obligated, required, compelled, constrained
Oppositefree, exempt
5
form the edgeverbtransitive
To form the boundary of a territory or area; to surround and enclose it.
Dense forests bound the kingdom along its northern frontier.
The river bounded the property to the east and the road to the west.
UsageThe past form is bounded: a field bounded by the river on the east.
Similarborder, enclose, surround, edge, delimit
Note
Geographical prose favors the passive, listing neighbors with their directions: Kansas is bounded by Nebraska on the north and Missouri on the east. Alfred Ronald Conkling's Appleton's Guide to Mexico (1884) opens a frontier description the same way. It can also outline an area by its corners, as in an area bounded by Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Nebraska borders Kansas on the north, and Missouri borders it on the east. en.wikipedia.org
Alfred Ronald Conkling wrote Appleton's Guide to Mexico. en.wikisource.org
The book's first-edition title page is dated 1884. en.wikisource.org
Conkling begins his boundary description with a passive construction naming the northern neighbor. en.wikisource.org
6
outer limitsnouncountable
A boundary or border marking the edge of a territory, which one crosses to enter or leave it.
Stone markers still show the old bounds of the parish, running from the mill to the edge of the woods.
Cattle were never allowed to stray beyond the bounds of the estate.
UsageOften plural: within the bounds of or beyond the bounds of a place.
Similarboundary, border, limit, edge
Note
K. M. Elisabeth Murray's Caught in the Web of Words (1977) describes a Common Riding that served as a perambulation of the bounds of the common pastures, riding the edge so it stayed known.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Caught in the Web of Words was first published in 1977. oed.hertford.ox.ac.uk
Murray describes the Common Riding as a perambulation of the boundaries of the common pastures. en.wiktionary.org
7
confinedadjective
Confined to a particular place, or prevented from moving by conditions such as illness, weather, or terrain.
The elderly man, bound to his apartment by frailty, watched the street below.
For most of the term the recovering student was bound to the dormitory.
UsageOften in solid compounds: housebound, snowbound, bedbound.
Similarconfined, restricted, tied
Oppositefree
Note
Mostly met as the second half of a compound: railbound describes what can travel only where the rails go. The compound is written solid, and its first element names what one is held to. Weather compounds such as snowbound are built the same way, except that there the first element names what holds one in.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Railbound is formed from rail and bound; rails are what restrict its movement. en.wiktionary.org
Railbound means confined to running on rails. en.wiktionary.org
Snowbound is formed from snow and -bound. en.wiktionary.org
In snowbound, snow names the condition preventing movement. en.wiktionary.org
8
leapverbintransitive
To move forward with long leaps or springing strides, or to make a person or animal leap in this way.
Gazelles bound across the savanna whenever a predator approaches.
The retriever bounded down the hillside after the thrown stick.
UsageUsually with a direction word: bounded across the yard, bound up the stairs. The past form is bounded.
Similarleap, spring, bounce, jump
Note
Leaping as a way of getting somewhere, said of rabbits, dogs and happy people alike. It stretches easily to feeling: Tennyson's lyric "Madeline" speaks of "my bounding heart." John le Carré's A Perfect Spy (1986) has a couple bounding across a little park, so this sense is very much alive. It suits energetic, buoyant movement rather than a single cautious hop.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
The title is "Madeline". gutenberg.org
The poem contains the words "my bounding heart". gutenberg.org
John le Carré wrote A Perfect Spy, first published in 1986. johnlecarre.com
A Perfect Spy describes a couple bounding across a little park. en.wiktionary.org
9
limit (maths)nouncountable
A value greater than or equal to every value in a given set (an upper bound), or less than or equal to every value in it (a lower bound).
The proof established an upper bound on the function's growth.
Engineers calculated a safe lower bound for the bridge's load capacity.
Similarlimit
Note
The mathematician's border. An upper bound sits at or above every value in a set, and a lower bound sits at or below every one. Neither has to belong to the set itself: 10 is an upper bound for numbers below 5. Since a set can have many such values, writers usually say "an upper bound." The matching verb says that a value bounds a set.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
An upper bound is greater than or equal to every element of the set. weizmann.ac.il
A lower bound is less than or equal to every element of the set. weizmann.ac.il
Neither an upper bound nor a lower bound has to belong to the set. math.libretexts.org
10 is an upper bound for the real numbers below 5; this follows directly from the definition, since x < 5 implies x ≤ 10. weizmann.ac.il
A set can have many upper bounds. math.libretexts.org
10
set limits (maths)verbtransitive
To act as the upper or lower limit of a set of values.
Two simple inequalities bound the entire solution set.
For any input of size n, the square of n bounds the number of steps the program takes.
Similarlimit, constrain
Note
A mathematician says one quantity bounds another when it caps it from above or floors it from below, as when a constant bounds an algorithm's running time. The participle is bounded, as with the territorial verb. The direction is usually spelled out (bounded above, bounded from below), because a bound is usually stated for one side at a time.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
A mathematical bound supplies an upper or lower limit. en.wiktionary.org
A constant can bound an algorithm's running time. en.wikipedia.org
The mathematical and territorial verb have the past participle bounded. en.wiktionary.org
A single value can be both an upper and a lower bound: 42 is both for the singleton set {42}. en.wikipedia.org

Less common meanings

11
jump forwardnouncountable
A large jump or leap, including a spring from one foot to the other in dancing.
The mountain goat crossed the gap in a remarkable bound.
She covered the last few feet of the trail in two easy bounds.
UsageCommon in in a single bound and by leaps and bounds, which means very quickly.
Similarleap, jump, spring
Note
The leaping word has its own ancestry. It comes from French bondir, "to leap," which originally meant to make a loud resounding noise, perhaps from a Late Latin verb for humming built on Latin bombus, "a buzzing."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The leaping word comes from French bondir, meaning "to leap". en.wiktionary.org
French bondir originally referred to making a resounding noise. fr.wiktionary.org
The proposed earlier source is a Late Latin verb meaning "hum, buzz", derived from Latin bombus, meaning "a humming or buzzing". en.wiktionary.org
12
a bouncenoundatedcountable
A bounce or rebound of a moving object after it strikes a surface.
The fielder misjudged the ball's bound and let it slip past him.
Balzo, a bound of a ball
1598, John Florio, “Balzo”
UsageIn everyday English, bounce is the usual word: the ball took an odd bounce.
Similarbounce, rebound, hop
Note
John Florio's dictionary A Worlde of Words (1598) glosses the Italian balzo simply as "a bound of a ball," as if it were the plain word for this.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
John Florio's dictionary was first published in 1598. celm.folger.edu
Florio glosses balzo as "a bound of a ball." en.wiktionary.org
13
bounce offverbdatedintransitive
To spring back after hitting a surface, or to make something spring back in this way; to bounce.
The ball would bound off the sidewalk and into the gutter.
The grounder bounded off a rock in the infield and sailed over the shortstop's head.
UsageToday bounce or rebound is the ordinary word for a ball.
Similarbounce, rebound, ricochet
Note
The leaping verb describes an animal's own spring. This one describes a ball's return from the floor: a rubber ball bounds.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The leaping sense of bound can describe an animal jumping. en.wiktionary.org
Bound can describe a ball rebounding from the floor. en.wiktionary.org
14
adjectivedated
Of a person, constipated; unable to move the bowels easily.
Similarconstipated
Note
A sickroom word that has gone out of fashion. To be bound was to be costive, the bowels held fast as if tied. In current writing constipated is the safe choice. Used this way, bound now sounds old-fashioned, and out of context a reader may hear one of the word's commoner meanings, such as tied up or obliged.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
Bound has meant constipated or costive. en.wiktionary.org
15
adjectiveobsolete
Ready; prepared and equipped to act or set out.
Note
A different word from bind altogether. Old Norse búinn, "prepared," the past participle of búa, "to prepare," came into English as boun. The final -d was added partly for ease of saying and partly because speakers linked it with the bound of bind. Walter Scott could still write of a war band "ready boune" in The Lady of the Lake (1810). As a plain word for "ready," it is long out of use.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts
The ready/prepared sense has a separate etymology from the bound associated with bind. en.wiktionary.org
English boun derives from Old Norse búinn, the past participle of búa, meaning to prepare. en.wiktionary.org
Old Norse búinn means prepared. en.wiktionary.org
The final d developed partly for euphony and partly through association with bound from bind. en.wiktionary.org
Walter Scott wrote The Lady of the Lake. walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk
The poem describes a war band as ready boune; the words occur in Malise's dialogue. gutenberg.org
The Lady of the Lake was first published in 1810. walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk
16
adjective
Of a morpheme or element, unable to stand alone as a free word and required to attach to another form.
17
adjective
Of a variable, constrained by a quantifier such as "for all" or "there exists," rather than free.

bound is a form of bind

bind, verb: To tie or fasten something tightly, or tie things together, with a cord, band, chain, or similar material. Full entry

Forms: bindbinds he/she/itbinding -ing formbound past tense, past participle
Spelling: bind → bound: irregular (no -ed)

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of bound apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 4, 7, 14

This comes from Middle English past-tense and past-participle forms like bound and bounden, from Old English bund- and (ġe)bunden. It is related to the verb "bind."

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Bound derives from Middle English preterite and past-participle forms including bound and bounden, continuing Old English bund- and (ġe)bunden. en.wiktionary.org
This bound is related to bind. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 2–3, 15

This comes from Middle English bownde, an altered form of boun, from Old Norse búinn, the past participle of búa ("to prepare"). The final -d was added partly for sound and partly by association with the "bind" sense.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

Bound comes from Middle English bownde, an altered form of boun. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English boun derives from Old Norse búinn, the past participle of búa, meaning to prepare. en.wiktionary.org
The final -d arose partly for euphonic effect and partly through association with bound derived from bind. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 6, 9

Medieval Latin butina, later bodina ("a bound, limit"), passed into Old French as bunne and then into Middle English as bounde.

Meanings 5, 10

This comes from Middle English bounden, formed from the noun "bound."

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

The verb bound meaning to form a boundary comes from Middle English bounden. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English bounden was formed from the noun bound. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 8, 11–13

French bondir meant "leap, bound," and originally "make a loud resounding noise." It perhaps comes from Late Latin bombitāre ("hum, buzz"), a frequentative verb based on Latin bombus ("a humming or buzzing"). English took it as Middle English *bounden, which is attested as bounten.