pounds

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of pound.

   The recipe calls for two pounds of flour and a pinch of salt.

   The old bridge can support several thousand pounds of weight.

   Note

   A plural that usually counts avoirdupois units of sixteen ounces, about 453.592 grams each, though the singular has also named various non-English measures. Strictly, pound can be short for either pound weight or pound mass, and everyday talk of two pounds of flour blurs the two. Before a noun the plural drops away: a five-pound bag, never a five-pounds bag.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of pound.

   The blacksmith pounds the glowing metal into the shape of a horseshoe.

   Her heart pounds whenever she has to speak in front of a crowd.

   Note

   The verb form shares its spelling with the plural of the weight unit, so a subject in front of it is what marks it as a verb. Most uses are the striking kind: a hammer pounds a nail, a pestle pounds grain to powder. Slang stretches it further, to gulping a drink fast, to a pitcher who keeps throwing to one spot, and, in regional British slang, to staking a pound on something.

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