impounding
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im·pound
(ĭm-pound′)tr.v. im·pound·ed, im·pound·ing, im·pounds
1. To confine in or as if in a pound: capture and impound stray dogs.
2. To place (something) in legal custody until a dispute involving it is decided: impounding ballots in a disputed election.
3. To set aside in a fund rather than spend as prescribed: a governor who impounded monies designated for use by cities.
4. To accumulate and store in a reservoir: By damming the stream, the engineers impounded its waters for irrigation.
n. (ĭm′pound′)
1. A place where impounded property is stored, as a lot for keeping vehicles that have been towed by police order.
2. The process or activity of impounding something: the impound of the uninsured car.
im·pound′er n.
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.
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| Noun | 1. | impounding - placing private property in the custody of an officer of the law seizure - the taking possession of something by legal process drug bust, drugs bust - seizure of illegal drugs by the police law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" |
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