I. BE BOUND
/baʊnd/
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Bound is the past tense and past participle of bind .
2.
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.
PHRASE
3.
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.
PHRASE
4.
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...
ADJ : v-link ADJ to n
5.
If a vehicle or person is bound for a particular place, they are travelling towards it.
The ship was bound for Italy.
...a Russian plane bound for Berlin.
ADJ : v-link ADJ for n
•
Bound is also a combining form.
...a Texas-bound oil freighter.
...homeward-bound commuters.
COMB in ADJ
6.
If something is bound up in a particular form or place, it is fixed in that form or contained in that place.
The manager of a company does not like having a large chunk of his wealth bound up in its shares...
= tied up in
PHRASE : PHR n
7.
If one thing is bound up with or in another, they are closely connected with each other, and it is difficult to consider the two things separately.
My fate was bound up with hers...
Their interests were completely bound up in their careers.
= tied up with
PHRASE : PHR n , usu v-link PHR
8.
see also bind over
II. OTHER USES
/baʊnd/
( bounds, bounding, bounded)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
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.
...the bounds of good taste.
N-PLURAL : usu within/beyond N
2.
If an area of land is bounded by something, that thing is situated around its edge.
Kirgizia is bounded by Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
...the trees that bounded the car park.
...the park, bounded by two busy main roads and a huge housing estate.
VERB : be V-ed by n , V n , V-ed
3.
If someone’s life or situation is bounded by 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.
V-PASSIVE : be V-ed by n
4.
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...
= leap
VERB : V prep / adv
5.
A bound is a long or high jump. ( LITERARY )
With one bound Jack was free.
N-COUNT : usu sing
6.
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 : V adv
7.
If you say that a feeling or quality knows no bounds , you are emphasizing that it is very strong or intense.
The passion of Argentinian football fans knows no bounds.
PHRASE : V inflects [ emphasis ]
8.
If a place is out of bounds , people are not allowed to go there.
For the last few days the area has been out of bounds to foreign journalists.
PHRASE : v-link PHR , PHR after v , oft PHR to n
9.
If something is out of bounds , people are not allowed to do it, use it, see it, or know about it.
American parents may soon be able to rule violent TV programmes out of bounds.
PHRASE : v-link PHR , PHR after v
10.
leaps and bounds: see leap