pound Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun 16 ounces avoirdupois
    lb.
    • he got a hernia when he tried to lift 100 pounds
  2. noun the basic unit of money in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; equal to 100 pence
    British pound sterling; pound sterling; quid; British pound.
  3. noun a unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces troy
  4. noun the basic unit of money in Syria; equal to 100 piasters
    Syrian pound.
  5. noun the basic unit of money in the Sudan; equal to 100 piasters
    Sudanese pound.
  6. noun the basic unit of money in Lebanon; equal to 100 piasters
    Lebanese pound.
  7. noun formerly the basic unit of money in Ireland; equal to 100 pence
    Irish punt; punt; Irish pound.
  8. noun the basic unit of money in Egypt; equal to 100 piasters
    Egyptian pound.
  9. noun the basic unit of money in Cyprus; equal to 100 cents
    Cypriot pound.
  10. noun a nontechnical unit of force equal to the mass of 1 pound with an acceleration of free fall equal to 32 feet/sec/sec
    lbf..
  11. noun United States writer who lived in Europe; strongly influenced the development of modern literature (1885-1972)
    Ezra Pound; Ezra Loomis Pound.
  12. noun a symbol for a unit of currency (especially for the pound sterling in Great Britain)
    pound sign.
  13. noun a public enclosure for stray or unlicensed dogs
    dog pound.
    • unlicensed dogs will be taken to the pound
  14. noun the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows)
    pounding; hammer; hammering.
    • the sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard
    • the pounding of feet on the hallway
  15. verb hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument
    poke; thump.
    • the salesman pounded the door knocker
    • a bible-thumping Southern Baptist
  16. verb strike or drive against with a heavy impact
    ram; ram down.
    • ram the gate with a sledgehammer
    • pound on the door
  17. verb move heavily or clumsily
    lumber.
    • The heavy man lumbered across the room
  18. verb move rhythmically
    beat; thump.
    • Her heart was beating fast
  19. verb partition off into compartments
    pound off.
    • The locks pound the water of the canal
  20. verb shut up or confine in any enclosure or within any bounds or limits
    pound up.
    • The prisoners are safely pounded
  21. verb place or shut up in a pound
    impound.
    • pound the cows so they don't stray
  22. verb break down and crush by beating, as with a pestle
    • pound the roots with a heavy flat stone

WordNet

Pound transitive verb
Etymology
OE. pounen, AS. punian to bruise. Cf. Pun a play on words.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Pounded; present participle & verbal noun Pounding
Definitions
  1. To strike repeatedly with some heavy instrument; to beat.
    With cruel blows she pounds her blubbered cheeks. Dryden.
  2. To comminute and pulverize by beating; to bruise or break into fine particles with a pestle or other heavy instrument; as, to pound spice or salt.
Pound intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To strike heavy blows; to beat.
  2. (Mach.) To make a jarring noise, as in running; as, the engine pounds.
Pound noun
Etymology
AS. pund an inclosure: cf. forpyndan to turn away, or to repress, also Icel. pynda to extort, torment, Ir. pont, pond, pound. Cf. Pinder, Pinfold, Pin to inclose, Pond.
Definitions
  1. An inclosure, maintained by public authority, in which cattle or other animals are confined when taken in trespassing, or when going at large in violation of law; a pinfold. Shak.
  2. A level stretch in a canal between locks.
  3. (Fishing) A kind of net, having a large inclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.
Pound transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound. Milton.
Pound noun
Etymology
AS. pund, fr. L. pondo, akin to pondus a weight, pendere top weigh. See Pendant.
Wordforms
plural Pounds collectively Pound present Pounds
Definitions
  1. A certain specified weight; especially, a legal standard consisting of an established number of ounces. ✍ The pound in general use in the United States and in England is the pound avoirdupois, which is divided into sixteen ounces, and contains 7,000 grains. The pound troy is divided into twelve ounces, and contains 5,760 grains. 144 pounds avoirdupois are equal to 175 pounds troy weight. See Avoirdupois, and Troy.
  2. A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about $4.86. There is no coin known by this name, but the gold sovereign is of the same value. ✍ The pound sterling was in Saxon times, about A. D. 671, a pound troy of silver, and a shilling was its twentieth part; consequently the latter was three times as large as it is at present. Peacham.

Webster 1913