bind

1 verb past tense and past participle bound,

1 TIE/FASTEN (T) formal or literary

a) to tie someone so that they cannot move or escape: They bound my arms and legs with rope. | bound and gagged (=tied up, and with cloth tied around your mouth so you cannot speak)

b) also bind up to tie things firmly together with cloth or string: They bound his wounds.

2 UNITE (T) to form a strong emotional or economic connection between two people, countries etc: bind sth together: Their shared experiences in war helped to bind the two communities together.

3 STICK TOGETHER (I, T) to stick together in a mass, or to make small pieces of something stick together: The flour mixture isn't wet enough to bind properly. | bind sth: The rain will help to bind the soil.

4 RESTRICT (T) to reduce someone's freedom of action, for example by giving them a duty or making them promise to do something: regulations that could bind policy-makers in the future | The monks are bound by vows of silence.

5 STITCH (T) to strengthen or decorate something with a border of material: The edges of the blanket were bound with ribbon.

6 BOOK (T) to fasten the pages of a book together and put them in a cover

-see also: bound 1 bind sb over phrasal verb (T) BrE law to order someone to cause no more trouble by threatening them with legal punishment: bound over to keep the peace 2 noun a bind informal an annoying or difficult situation: It's a real bind having to look after the children.