Definition of "bind"

bind

/baɪnd/

verb
third-person singular simple present binds, present participle binding, simple past bound or (nonstandard) binded, past participle bound or (nonstandard) binded or (archaic, rare) bounden or (obsolete) ybound or (obsolete) ybounden
1. (intransitive) To tie; to confine by any ligature.
  Quotations
  They that reap must sheaf and bind.
  c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene ii]
2. (intransitive) To cohere or stick together in a mass.
  Quotations
  unlocks their [clay's] binding Quality.
  1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], published 1708
3. (intransitive) To be restrained from motion, or from customary or natural action, as by friction.
4. (intransitive) To exert a binding or restraining influence.
5. (transitive) To tie or fasten tightly together, with a cord, band, ligature, chain, etc.
6. (transitive) To confine, restrain, or hold by physical force or influence of any kind.
  Quotations
  He bindeth the flouds from ouerflowing, and the thing that is hid, bringeth he foorth to light.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Job 28:11
  And ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, loe these eighteene yeeres, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Luke 13:16
7. (transitive) To couple.
8. (figuratively) To oblige, restrain, or hold, by authority, law, duty, promise, vow, affection, or other social tie.
  Quotations
  I am much bounden to your Maieſty.
  c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iii], page 11, column 2
  In the concluding whereof Sir Thomas More so worthily handled himself, procuring in our league far more benefits unto this realm, than at that time, by the king or his council was thought possible to be compassed, that for his good service in that voyage, the king, when he after made him Lord Chancellor, caused the Duke of Norfolk openly to declare to the people, as you shall hear hereafter more at large, how much all England was bounden unto him.
  1626, William Roper, S. W. Singer, The Mirrour of Vertue in Worldly Greatnes. Or The Life of Syr Thomas More Knight, sometime Lo. Chancellour of England, new revised and corrected edition, Paris [i.e. Saint-Omer]: [Printed at the English College Press]; republished as The Life of Sir Thomas More, by His Son-in-law, William Roper, Esq. […], Chiswick, London: From the press of C[harles] Whittingham, for R. Triphook, […], 1822, page 36
  Who made our Laws to bind us, not himſelf,
  1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 25, line 310
  He'll mind, I reckon, not getting any work out'n me, but I won't be bounden to him any longer. How can he keep me if I ain't bounden to him?
  1963, William A. Owens, chapter 2, in Look to the River, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum; republished as Look to the River (Texas Tradition Series; 8), Fort Worth, Tex.: Texas Christian University Press, 1988, page 20
9. (law) To put (a person) under definite legal obligations, especially, under the obligation of a bond or covenant.
10. (law) To place under legal obligation to serve.
11. (transitive) To protect or strengthen by applying a band or binding, as the edge of a carpet or garment.
12. (transitive, archaic) To make fast (a thing) about or upon something, as by tying; to encircle with something.
13. (transitive) To cover, as with a bandage.
14. (transitive, archaic) To prevent or restrain from customary or natural action, as by producing constipation.
15. (transitive) To put together in a cover, as of books.
16. (transitive, chemistry) To make two or more elements stick together.
17. (transitive, programming) To associate an identifier with a value; to associate a variable name, method name, etc. with the content of a storage location.
  Quotations
  We bind the variable n to the value 2, and xs to "abcd".
  2008, Bryan O'Sullivan, John Goerzen, Donald Bruce Stewart, Real World Haskell, page 33
  You can bind an identifier to an object of a derived type, as you did earlier when you bound a string to an identifier of type obj […]
  2009, Robert Pickering, Beginning F#, page 123
18. (transitive, programming) To process one or more object modules into an executable program.
19. (UK, dialect) To complain; to whine about something.
  Quotations
  "But it's not much good piling up the pix if I can't sell them.""Oh do stop binding. Think of something. How will we eat, where will we sleep?"
  1980, Iris Murdoch, Nuns And Soldiers
20. (intransitive, LGBT) To wear a binder so as to flatten one's chest to give the appearance of a flat chest, usually done by trans men.
noun
plural binds
1. That which binds or ties.
2. A troublesome situation; a problem; a predicament or quandary.
3. Any twining or climbing plant or stem, especially a hop vine; a bine.
4. (music) A ligature or tie for grouping notes.
5. (chess) A strong grip or stranglehold on a position, which is difficult for the opponent to break.
6. The indurated clay of coal mines.

Definition of "bind"

bind

verb

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noun