Bound is the past tense and past participle of bind.
2. phrase
If you say that something is bound to happen, you mean that you are sure it will happen, because it is a natural consequence of something that is already known or exists.
There are bound to be price increases next year.
If you are topless in a public place, this sort of thing is bound to happen.
3. phrase
If you say that something is bound to happen or be true, you feel confident and certain of it, although you have no definite knowledge or evidence.
[spoken]
I'll show it to Benjamin. He's bound to know.
We'll have more than one child, and one of them's bound to be a boy.
4. adjective
If one person, thing, or situation is bound to another, they are closely associated with each other, and it is difficult for them to be separated or to escape from each other.
We are as tightly bound to the people we dislike as to the people we love. [+ to]
Economic growth is still bound to the issues of poverty, social justice and conservation.
5. adjective
If a vehicle or person is bound for a particular place, they are travelling towards it.
The ship was bound for Italy. [+ for]
...a Russian plane bound for Berlin. [+ for]
Synonyms: going to, travelling to, flying to, on its way to More Synonyms of bound
-bound is also a combining form.
...a Texas-bound oil freighter.
...homeward-bound commuters.
6.
See I am bound to say
7.
See bound up in
8.
See bound up in/with
9. See also bind over
More Synonyms of bound
bound other uses
(baʊnd)
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense bounds, present participle bounding, past tense, past participle bounded
1. plural noun [usu within/beyondN]
Bounds are limits which normally restrict what can happen or what people can do.
Changes in temperature occur slowly and are constrained within relatively tight bounds.
...a forceful personality willing to go beyond the bounds of convention. [+ of]
...the bounds of good taste. [+ of]
2. verb
If an area of land is bounded by something, that thing is situated around its edge.
The area is bounded by Oxford Street to the north and Leicester Square to the south. [beVERB-ed + by]
...the trees that bounded the car park. [VERB noun]
...the park, bounded by two busy main roads and a huge housing estate. [VERB-ed]
Synonyms: surround, confine, enclose, terminate More Synonyms of bound
3. passive verb
If someone's life or situation is boundedby certain things, those are its most important aspects and it is limited or restricted by them.
Our lives are bounded by work, family and television. [beVERB-ed + by]
Synonyms: limit, fix, define, restrict More Synonyms of bound
4. verb
If a person or animal bounds in a particular direction, they move quickly with large steps or jumps.
He bounded up the steps and pushed the bell of the door. [VERB preposition/adverb]
The dog came bounding back with the stick for Richard to throw again. [VERB preposition/adverb]
Synonyms: leap, bob, spring, jump More Synonyms of bound
5. countable noun [usually singular]
A bound is a long or high jump.
[literary]
She leaps in one bound onto her pony's back for a speedy canter around the ring.
With one bound Jack was free.
Synonyms: leap, bob, spring, jump More Synonyms of bound
6. verb
If the quantity or performance of something bounds ahead, it increases or improves quickly and suddenly.
The shares bounded ahead a further 11p to 311p. [VERB adverb]
The economy isn't bounding back as fast as people expected. [VERB adverb]
7.
See to know no bounds
8.
See out of bounds
9.
See out of bounds
10. leaps and bounds
-bound
(-baʊnd)
1. combining form
-bound combines with nouns to form adjectives which describe a person who finds it impossible or very difficult to leave the specified place.
I'm pretty desk-bound, which is very frustrating.
2. combining form
-bound combines with nouns to form adjectives which describe a place that is greatly affectedby the specified type of weather.
Three people were hurt in a 12-car pile up on a fog-bound motorway yesterday.
...a glimmer of sun on a frost-bound field.
3. combining form
-bound combines with nouns to form adjectives which describe something or someone that isprevented from working properly or is badly affected by the specified situation.
[written]
...a tradition-bound university.
...a strike-bound factory.
4. See also bound1 [sense 5], duty-bound, muscle-bound
bound in British English1
(baʊnd)
verb
1. the past tense and past participle of bind
adjective
2.
in bonds or chains; tied with or as if with a rope
a bound prisoner
3. (in combination)
restricted; confined
housebound
fogbound
4. (postpositive; foll by an infinitive)
destined; sure; certain
it's bound to happen
5. (postpositive; often foll byby)
compelled or obliged to act, behave, or think in a particular way, as by duty, circumstance, or convention
6.
(of a book) secured within a cover or binding
to deliver bound books
See also half-bound
7. (postpositive; foll byon) US
resolved; determined
bound on winning
8. linguistics
a.
denoting a morpheme, such as the prefix non-, that occurs only as part of another word and not as a separate word in itself
Compare free (sense 21)
b.
(in systemic grammar) denoting a clause that has a nonfinite predicator or that is introduced by a binder, and that occurs only together with a freestanding clause
Compare freestanding
9. logic
(of a variable) occurring within the scope of a quantifier that indicates the degree of generality of the open sentence in which the variable occurs: in (x) (Fx → bxy), x is bound and y is free
free (sense 22)
10. bound up with
11. I'll be bound
bound in British English2
(baʊnd)
verb
1.
to move forwards or make (one's way) by leaps or jumps
2.
to bounce; spring away from an impact
noun
3.
a jump upwards or forwards
4. by leaps and bounds
5.
a sudden pronounced sense of excitement
his heart gave a sudden bound when he saw her
6.
a bounce, as of a ball
Word origin
C16: from Old French bond a leap, from bondir to jump, resound, from Vulgar Latin bombitīre (unattested) to buzz, hum, from Latin bombus booming sound
bound in British English3
(baʊnd)
verb
1. (transitive)
to place restrictions on; limit
2. (whenintr, foll by on)
to form a boundary of (an area of land or sea, political or administrative region, etc)
noun
3. mathematics
a.
a number which is greater than all the members of a set of numbers (an upper bound), or less than all its members (a lower bound)
See also bounded (sense 1)
b.
more generally, an element of an ordered set that has the same ordering relation to all the members of a given subset
c.
whence, an estimate of the extent of some set
4. bounds
Word origin
C13: from Old French bonde, from Medieval Latin bodina, of Gaulish origin
bound in British English4
(baʊnd)
adjective
a. (postpositive; often foll byfor)
going or intending to go towards; on the way to
a ship bound for Jamaica
homeward bound
b.
(in combination)
northbound traffic
Word origin
C13: from Old Norse buinn, past participle of būa to prepare
bound in American English1
(baʊnd)
verb intransitive
1.
to move with a leap or series of leaps
2.
to spring back from a surface after striking it, as a ball; bounce; rebound
verb transitive
3.
to cause to bound or bounce
noun
4.
a jump; leap
5.
a springing back from a surface after striking it; bounce
SIMILAR WORDS: skip
Word origin
MFr bondir < OFr, to leap, make a noise, orig., to echo back < LL bombitare, to buzz, hum < L bombus, a humming: see bomb
bound in American English2
(baʊnd)
verb transitive, verb intransitive
1. pt. & pp. of
bind
adjective
2.
confined by or as by binding; tied
3.
closely connected or related
4.
certain; sure; destined
bound to lose
5.
under compulsion; obliged
legally bound to accept
6.
constipated
7.
provided with a binding or attached cover, as a book
8. Informal
having one's mind made up; resolved
a team bound on winning
9. Linguistics
designating a form, or morpheme, that never occurs alone as an independent word
in “singing,” -ing is a bound form, but sing is not
see also free (sense 26)
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈlimit
Idioms:
bound up in
bound in American English3
(baʊnd)
noun
1.
a boundary; limit
2. [pl.]
an area near, alongside, or enclosed by a boundary
verb transitive
3.
to provide with bounds; limit; confine
4.
to be a limit or boundary to
5. US
to name the boundaries of (a state, etc.)
verb intransitive
6.
to have a boundary (on another country, etc.)
Idioms:
out of bounds
Word origin
ME bounde < OFr bunne, bodne < ML bodina, butina, boundary, boundary marker
bound in American English4
(baʊnd)
adjective
1.
ready to go or going; headed
often with for
bound for home
2. Archaic
ready; prepared
Word origin
ME boun, ready (+ -d, prob. by assoc. with bound2) < ON buinn, pp. of bua, to prepare: see bondage
-bound in American English
(baʊnd)
1.
going or headed toward
southbound, championship-bound
2.
confined by or to
snowbound, housebound
Word origin
(sense 1) see bound4; (sense 2) see bound2
More idioms containing
bound
be bound hand and foot by something
Examples of 'bound' in a sentence
bound
He has come on in leaps and bounds this season.
The Sun (2017)
My love of the cardigan knows no bounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
With so many courses tailored to regional economic and social needs, the demand for places has grown by leaps and bounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Which is not beyond the bounds of possibility.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Who indeed will set bounds to human ingenuity?
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
His ideas had escaped the bounds of the adjacent possible.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
These are a crucial part of the project to increase the bounds of human knowledge.
Lisa Jardine THE CURIOUS LIFE OF ROBERT HOOKE: The Man who Measured London (2003)
This is an area that can stretch the bounds of trust and transparency.
Christianity Today (2000)
After pausing to roar at her rescuers she bounded away and disappeared.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Their reading came on in leaps and bounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Many bound books today are works of art in their own right.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
She bounded around the place with an incredible energy.
Jan Fennell FRIENDS FOR LIFE (2003)
Heidi jumped and bounded gaily by their side.
Johanna Spyri Heidi (1881)
The bookshelves were lined with bound volumes of his press cuttings.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And his enthusiasm for the supernatural knows no bounds.
The Sun (2012)
With the sun on his back, he bounds along.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The mere idea of having an internal out of bounds area on a links course is one that has golf purists tearing their hair out.
The Sun (2012)
I remember watching the Olympics and seeing high jumpers bounding up and back before making their run.