bond 
(bŏnd)
(bŏnd)n.
1. Something, such as a fetter, cord, or band, that binds, ties, or fastens things together.
2. often bonds Confinement in prison; captivity.
3. A uniting force or tie; a link: the familial bond.
4. A binding agreement; a covenant.
5. A duty, promise, or other obligation by which one is bound.
6.
a. A substance or agent that causes two or more objects or parts to cohere.
b. The union or cohesion brought about by such a substance or agent.
7. A chemical bond.
8. A systematically overlapping or alternating arrangement of bricks or stones in a wall, designed to increase strength and stability.
9. A written obligation requiring the payment of a sum at a certain time.
10. A debt security obligating a government or corporation to pay a specified amount on a future date, especially a marketable security that makes semiannual interest payments.
11.
a. A guarantee issued by a surety agency on behalf of a client, requiring the surety to pay a sum of money to a third party in the event the client fails to fulfill certain obligations; a surety bond.
b. A sum pledged as a guarantee.
12. A sum paid as a guarantee of a person's appearance at court for trial; bail: set bond at $100,000; released the prisoner on a $10,000 bond.
13. The condition of being held under the guarantee of a customs bond: imported merchandise stored in bond.
14. An insurance contract that indemnifies an employer for loss resulting from a fraudulent or dishonest act by an employee; a fidelity bond.
15. Bond paper.
v. bond·ed, bond·ing, bonds
v.tr.
1. To join securely, as with glue or cement.
2. To join (two or more individuals) in a relationship, as by shared belief or experience: An interest in banking reform bonded the two political opponents.
3.
a. To finance by issuing bonds: Two projects have already been bonded.
b. To raise by issuing bonds: The city bonded $900,000 for the new park.
4. To gain the release of (someone who has been arrested) by providing a bail bond: bonded his cousin out of jail.
5. To issue a surety bond or a fidelity bond for.
6. To lay (bricks or stones) in an overlapping or alternating pattern.
v.intr.
1. To cohere with a bond.
2. To form a close personal relationship.
3. To secure release from prison by providing a bail bond: The accused bonded out of jail.
[Middle English, variant of band, from Old Norse; see bhendh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
bonda·bili·ty n.
bonda·ble adj.
bonder n.
bond Flemish pattern