bounds
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Related to bounds: leaps and bounds
bound 1
(bound)intr.v. bound·ed, bound·ing, bounds
1. To leap forward or upward; jump; spring: The dog bounded over the gate.
2. To move forward by leaps or springs: The deer bounded into the woods.
3. To spring back from a surface; rebound: The basketball bounded off the backboard.
n.
1. A leap; a jump: The deer was away in a single bound.
2. A springing back from a surface after hitting it; a bounce: caught the ball on the bound.
[French bondir, to bounce, from Old French, to resound, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *bombitīre, from Latin bombitāre, to hum, from bombus, a humming sound, from Greek bombos.]
bound 2
(bound)n.
1. often bounds A boundary; a limit: Our joy knew no bounds. Your remarks exceed the bounds of reason.
2. bounds The territory on, within, or near limiting lines: the bounds of the kingdom.
v. bound·ed, bound·ing, bounds
v.tr.
1. To set a limit to; confine: a high wall that bounded the prison yard; lives that were bounded by poverty.
2. To constitute the boundary or limit of: a city park that was bounded by busy streets.
3. To identify the boundaries of; demarcate.
v.intr.
Idioms: To border on another place, state, or country.
in/within bounds Sports
Within the boundary of a playing field or court and therefore in play or legal.
out of bounds
1. Sports Outside the boundary of a playing field or court and therefore not in play or legal.
2. Outside the boundary of where one is allowed to be; in a forbidden or unauthorized place: The research lab is out of bounds for first-year students.
3. In violation of acceptable rules or standards, as of decency: felt the guest's behavior was out of bounds.
[Middle English, from Old French bodne, bonde and Anglo-Norman bunde, both from Medieval Latin bodina, of Celtic origin.]
bound 3
(bound)v.
Past tense and past participle of bind.
adj.
1. Confined by bonds; tied: bound hostages.
2. Being under legal or moral obligation: bound by my promise.
3. Equipped with a cover or binding: bound volumes.
4. Predetermined; certain: We're bound to be late.
5. Determined; resolved: Many public policy students are bound to be politicians one day.
6. Linguistics Being a form, especially a morpheme, that cannot stand as an independent word, such as a prefix or suffix.
7. Constipated.
bound 4
(bound)adj.
Headed or intending to head in a specified direction: commuters bound for home; a south-bound train.
[Alteration of Middle English boun, ready, from Old Norse būinn, past participle of būa, to get ready; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
bounds
(baʊndz)pl n
1. (sometimes singular) a limit; boundary (esp in the phrase know no bounds)
2. something that restrains or confines, esp the standards of a society: within the bounds of modesty.
3. beat the bounds See beat26
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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| Noun | 1. |  bounds - the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of somethinghairline - the natural margin formed by hair on the head frontier - an international boundary or the area (often fortified) immediately inside the boundary heliopause - the boundary marking the edge of the sun's influence; the boundary (roughly 100 AU from the sun) between the interplanetary medium and the interstellar medium; where the solar wind from the sun and the radiation from other stars meet district line - the boundary between two districts county line - the boundary between two counties city line - the boundary of a city end - a boundary marking the extremities of something; "the end of town" extremity - the outermost or farthest region or point surface - the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object; "they skimmed over the surface of the water"; "a brush small enough to clean every dental surface"; "the sun has no distinct surface" shoreline - a boundary line between land and water |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
bounds
plural noun
1. limits, restrictions, confines, limitations the bounds of good taste
2. boundary, line, limit, edge, border, march, margin, pale, confine, frontier, fringe, verge, rim, perimeter, periphery The bounds of the empire continued to expand.
out of bounds forbidden, barred, banned, not allowed, vetoed, prohibited, taboo, closed off, off-limits (chiefly U.S. military), proscribed, verboten (German) Tibet was now virtually out of bounds to foreign journalists.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
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