bounds

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of bound.

   Survey markers defined the bounds of the disputed parcel.

   The children wandered beyond the bounds the camp counselors had set.

   Note

   One spelling covers two families of meaning. In one, the plural means limits: the borders of a territory, or values that hem in a set. In the other, it means leaps, such as a dancer's springs from foot to foot. The limits family settles into fixed phrases. Baroness Orczy (1904–1905) writes of a chagrin that "knew no bounds", the idiom for a feeling that exceeds every limit. Out of bounds belongs to the same family.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of bound.

   The young stallion bounds over the low fence with ease.

   A narrow river bounds the estate to the north.

   Note

   Two verbs meet in this form, and the object usually tells them apart. The leaping verb mostly stands alone (the stallion bounds away). It takes an object only when it means to make something leap. The bordering verb is transitive and needs what it encloses (a river bounds the estate). The bound that is the past of bind never takes this ending: someone binds a book, never bounds it.

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