1tie or fasten (something) tightly together:logs bound together with ropesthey bound her hands and feet
restrain (someone) by tying their hands and feet:the raider then bound and gagged Mr Glenn
wrap (something) tightly:her hair was bound up in a towel
bandage (a wound):Shelley cleaned the wound and bound it up with a clean dressing
(be bound with) (of an object) be encircled by something, typically metal bands, so as to have greater strength:an ancient oak chest bound with brass braces
2stick together or cause to stick together in a single mass: [with object]:mix the flour with the coconut and enough egg white to bind them
cause (painting pigments) to form a smooth medium by mixing them with oil.
hold by chemical bonding:a protein in a form that can bind DNA
[no object] (bind to) combine with (a substance) through chemical bonding:these proteins have been reported to bind to calmodulin
3cause (people) to feel united:the comradeship that had bound such a disparate bunch of lads together
(bind someone to) cause someone to feel strongly attached to (a person or place):touches like that had bound men to him for life
4impose a legal or contractual obligation on:a party who signs a document will normally be bound by its terms
indenture (someone) as an apprentice:he was bound apprentice at the age of sixteen
(bind oneself) formal make a contractual or enforceable undertaking:the government cannot bind itself as to the form of subsequent legislation
(of a court of law) require (someone) to fulfil an obligation, typically by paying a sum of money as surety:he was bound over to keep the peace by magistrates
(be bound by) be hampered or constrained by:Sarah did not want to be bound by a rigid timetable
5fix together and enclose (the pages of a book) in a cover:a small, fat volume, bound in red morocco
6trim (the edge of a piece of material) with a decorative strip:a frill with the edges bound in a contrasting colour
7 Logic (of a quantifier) be applied to (a given variable) so that the variable falls within its scope. For example, in an expression of the form ‘For every x, if x is a dog, x is an animal’, the universal quantifier is binding the variable x.
8 Linguistics (of a rule or set of grammatical conditions) determine the relationship between (coreferential noun phrases).
9(of a food or medicine) make (someone) constipated.
