Meaning of bound in English

bound

adjective

/baʊnd/ uk

/baʊnd/

bound adjective (CERTAIN)

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B2 [ after verb ]

certain or extremely likely to happen:

[ + to infinitive ] You're bound to forget people's names occasionally.

You're bound to feel nervous about your interview.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

certain about something

certainI feel certain that this change will be for the best.
know/say for certainI can't say for certain, but I think he's coming to the party.
sureDon't worry - I'm sure it won't be a problem.
positive"Are you sure you let the cat in?" "I'm positive."

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be bound and determined US

to be seriously intending to do something:

They are bound and determined to build their own house someday.

I'll be bound UK old-fashioned

I am certain:

He's in the pub, I'll be bound.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Certainty

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bound adjective (FORCED)

[ after verb, + , to, infinitive ]

having a moral or legal duty to do something:

The company is bound by a special agreement to involve the union in important decisions.

duty-bound She feels duty-bound to tell him everything.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Duty, obligation and responsibility

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bound adjective (FASTENED)

tied with rope, cord, string, etc.:

They left Jack, bound hand and foot, and guarded by one man.

His long brown braid bounced between his shoulders, and moisture formed and froze on the bound hair.

bound and gagged The security guard was found bound and gagged after the robbery.

(of a book) having a cover made of paper, leather, or other material:

The book was bound in shiny green leather.

The archivist says the new documents are contained in a single bound volume.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Lack of freedom to act

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Covering and adding layers

bound adjective (DIRECTION)

C1 [ after verb ]

going in a particular direction or toward a particular end result:

bound for She was on a plane bound for Moscow when she got sick.

These two young musicians are bound for international success.

At long last, I was homeward bound.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Direction of motion

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bound

verb

/baʊnd/ uk

/baʊnd/

bound verb (JUMP)

[ I usually + adv/prep ]

to move quickly with large jumping movements

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to jump

jumpThe kids jumped up and down when they heard we were going to Disneyland.
leapThe deer leaped out of the forest.
boundHe bounded on stage, punching the air with both fists.
launch yourselfShe rocked back and forth on her skis before launching herself down the slope.
bounceThe kids were bouncing happily on the trampoline.
hopI stubbed my toe and hopped to the kitchen to get some ice.

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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Jumping

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Bouncing

bound verb (BORDER)

[ T usually passive ]

to mark or form the limits of:

be bounded by The town is bounded on one side by a river.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Territorial boundaries

bound verb (TIE)

past simple and past participle of bind

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Fastening and tying

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bound

noun

/baʊnd/ uk

/baʊnd/

bound noun (JUMP)

[ C ]

a quick, long jump:

With one bound the dog was over the fence.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Jumping

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Bouncing

bound noun (LIMIT)

bounds [ plural ]

legal or social limits:

The committee felt that newspaper coverage of the murder went beyond reasonable bounds.

Idioms

in bounds

out of bounds

-bound

suffix

/ -baʊnd/ uk

/ -baʊnd/

-bound suffix (DIRECTION)

traveling in the stated direction:

Northbound traffic is moving very slowly because of the accident.

US The line did not close completely, but inbound and outbound trains (= trains which were arriving and leaving) had to share one of the two tracks near the station.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Direction of motion

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-bound suffix (PREVENTING LEAVING)

(causing people to be) unable to leave a place because of an unwanted condition:

During his long illness he was completely housebound (= he could not leave the house).

She has been wheelchair-bound for several years.

The airport was completely fogbound (= covered by fog).

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Lack of freedom to act

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-bound suffix (COVERED)

used to describe a book that is covered or held together in the stated way:

a leather-bound book

a spiral-bound notebook

used to describe clothes or other objects that have edges covered in the stated way:

leather-bound cuffs

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Covering and adding layers

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Decorating or making something attractive

(Definition of bound from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

bound | Intermediate English

bound

/bɑʊnd/

bound (TIE)

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past simple and past participle of bind

bound

adjective

/bɑʊnd/

bound adjective (CERTAIN)

[ not gradable ]

certain or extremely likely to happen:

[ + to infinitive ] You’re bound to feel nervous about your interview.

bound adjective (TIED)

[ not gradable ]

tied tightly or fastened:

Several of the prisoners had been bound.

bound adjective (FORCED)

having a moral or legal duty to do something:

She is not legally bound to pay the debts, but she has agreed to do it anyway.

bound adjective (TOWARD)

[ not gradable ]

traveling in the direction of:

She was on a plane bound for Fairbanks.

fig. These two young musicians are bound for success.

bound

verb

/bɑʊnd/

bound verb (LIMIT)

[ T ]

to mark or form the limits of:

The town is bounded on one side by a river.

bound verb (JUMP)

[ I always + adv/prep ]

to move quickly with large, jumping movements:

A deer bounded across the road.

bound

noun [ C ]

us/bɑʊnd/

bound noun [C] (JUMP)

a quick, large jump:

With one bound the dog was over the fence.

(Definition of bound from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

bound | Business English

bound

adjective

/baʊnd/ us

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[ after noun ] LAW

having a legal duty to do something:

be bound to do sth Because of international treaty obligations, the Government is legally bound to consider every asylum claim.

be bound by sth Many government agencies are bound by a federal order to adequately serve speakers of other languages or risk losing funding.

[ before noun ] COMMERCE

kept at or below an agreed or allowed level:

a bound level/rate/tariff Overall, the percentage of developed countries' imports of industrial goods under bound rates rose from 94% to 99%.

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bind

(Definition of bound from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of bound

bound

The lower bound for the product of variances can be zero even for noncommuting observables, making the relation trivial.

From Phys.Org

That is out of bounds, and it shows how very close we are to chaos.

From Dallas Morning News

So, a routine fight became a "riot", a youth being temporarily out of bounds within the facility became an "escape", etc.

From Huffington Post

Worldwide lithium production was 120,000 tons in 2009, roughly a quarter of which was bound for batteries.

From Fast Company

In the tumult of the civil rights movement, a confrontation on this turf was bound to happen.

From Slate Magazine

But new research that tracked a broad look at precipitation patterns found that they have already shifted beyond the bounds of natural variations.

From Ars Technica

This is a common nightmare scenario argument, but with vaccination rates that low at some schools, it's bound to become a reality.

From Slate Magazine

And our longevity is only bound to increase.

From Washington Times

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of bound, -bound?