bind: Meaning and Definition of

bind

1. to fasten or secure with a band or bond.
2. to encircle with a band or ligature: She bound her hair with a ribbon.
3. to swathe or bandage (often fol. by up): to bind up one's wounds.
4. to fasten around; fix in place by girding: They bound his hands behind him.
5. to tie up (anything, as sheaves of grain).
6. to cause to cohere: Ice bound the soil.
7. to unite by any legal or moral tie: to be bound by a contract.
8. to hold to a particular state, place, employment, etc.: Business kept him bound to the city.
9. to place under obligation or compulsion (usually used passively): We are bound by good sense to obey the country's laws.
10. to put under legal obligation, as to keep the peace or appear as a witness (often fol. by over): This action binds them to keep the peace. He was bound over to the grand jury.
11. to make compulsory or obligatory: to bind the order with a deposit.
12. to fasten or secure within a cover, as a book: They will bind the new book in leather.
13. to cover the edge of, as for protection or ornament: to bind a carpet.
14. (of clothing) to chafe or restrict (the wearer): This shirt binds me under the arms.
15. to hinder or restrain (the bowels) from their natural operations; constipate.
16. to indenture as an apprentice (often fol. by out): In his youth his father bound him to a blacksmith.

1. to become compact or solid; cohere.
2. to be obligatory: an obligation that binds.
3. to chafe or restrict, as poorly fitting garments: This jacket binds through the shoulders.
4. to stick fast, as a drill in a hole.
5. (of a hawk) to grapple or grasp prey firmly in flight.
6. to loop (one stitch) over another in making an edge on knitted fabric.

1. the act or process of binding; the state or instance of being bound.
2. something that binds.
3. a tie, slur, or brace.
4. the act of binding.
5. a difficult situation or predicament: This schedule has us in a bind.