26984 words

bind

15 definitions • 26 examples
1
to tie something or someone tightly or to fasten something:

Examples:

Bind together the two broken ends.
The prisoner was bound hand and foot.
2
to tie something around a part of the body, especially a part that is damaged:

Examples:

He had already bound the child's arm when I arrived.
3
to sew or stick material along the edges of something such as a jacket, in order to make it stronger or to decorate it:

Examples:

The edges of the carpet are bound to stop them fraying.
4
to make separate pieces of paper into a book:

Examples:

There are several different ways to bind a book, for example you can stitch or stick the pages together.
5
(used especially in cooking) to make a mixture stick together in a solid mass, or to be made to stick together like this:

Examples:

Add enough water to bind everything together.
The mixture wouldn't bind.
6
to combine with something by a chemical bond (= the force holding atoms together in a molecule), or to be combined like this:

Examples:

Protein's ability to bind iron may enhance iron absorption in the body.
The tissue cells will bind strongly to each other.
7
to unite people or to make them feel that they share something:

Examples:

The things that bind them together are greater than their differences.
"We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us," he said.
Close personal ties bind me to this place.
8
to make your chest appear flatter by wrapping it very tightly with a piece of cloth or a binder (= a special piece of clothing used for this purpose) that helps hold your breasts flat:

Examples:

I'm non-binary and have been binding for a year now.
He uses a tight sports bra to bind.
Many trans men bind their chests as an alternative to, or while waiting for, top surgery.
9
a difficult or annoying situation in which you are prevented from acting as you might like:

Examples:

Having to visit her every week is a terrible bind.
Borrowing money may put you in a real bind.
10
to tie someone or something tightly, or to fasten things together:

Examples:

The room was full of wooden boxes bound with twisted wire.
fig. The club is home to a mix of people bound together by a love of boats and boating.
11
fig. To bind someone is also to force the person to keep a promise:

Examples:

This contract binds the state to use this land as a park, said Judge Harry Smith.
12
To bind a book is to fasten one edge of the pages together inside a cover to make a book.
13
a difficult situation in which none of the choices available are good:

Examples:

If you lose a lot of your customers, you’ll soon get in a financial bind.
14
if a legal agreement or official decision binds someone, it forces them to do something or to keep a promise:

Examples:

bind sb to do sth The contracts bind investors to maintain the road.
be bound to sth We are bound to the original contract
15
to agree not to increase the rate of a tax, tariff, etc. above a particular level:

Examples:

bind sth (at sth) Jamaica bound all its industrial tariffs at a uniform ceiling rate of 50%.

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