BIND | English Meaning, Definition, and Pronunciation

Old English bindan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German binden, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit bandh

tie or fasten (something) tightly together

fasten together

• they bound her hands and feet
• the logs were bound together with ropes

stick together or cause to stick together in a single mass

stick together

• mix the flour with the coconut and enough egg white to bind them
• clay is made up chiefly of tiny soil particles that bind together tightly

cause (people) to feel united

cause to feel united

• it's music that has bound us together
• we have many ties that bind us—historical, cultural, and economical

impose a legal or contractual obligation on

impose legal obligation on

• a party who signs a document will normally be bound by its terms
• the council should seek to bind the parties to a programme of environmental improvements

fix together and enclose (the pages of a book) in a cover

fix book's pages in cover

• a small, fat volume, bound in red morocco

trim (the edge of a piece of material) with a decorative strip

decorate edge of fabric

• a frill with the edges bound in a contrasting colour

(of a quantifier) be applied to (a given variable) so that the variable falls within its scope. For example, in an expression of the form ‘For every x, if x is a dog, x is an animal’, the universal quantifier is binding the variable x.

in Logic

(of a rule or set of grammatical conditions) determine the relationship between (coreferential noun phrases).

in Linguistics

a problematical situation

problematical situation

• he is in a bind that gets worse with every passing minute

a statutory constraint

constraint

• the moral bind of the law

line above or below notes

stem of climbing plant