Sample Sentences forboundgrouped by contextual meaning (editor-reviewed)
bound as in: south-bound lanes
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There was an accident in the south-bound lanes.bound = travelling (in that direction)
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The bus was bound for Las Vegas when the accident occurred.bound = heading (travelling) to a specific location
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The meeting is to inform college-bound students about financial aid.bound = headed (going toward that place--in this case, college)
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The car broke down in an east-bound lane of the highway 10.bound = traveling (in that direction)
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The earth-bound asteroid is thought to have a 1 in 300 chance of hitting our planet in the year 2880.bound = travelling to that location (in this case, earth)
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The movie is called Homeward Bound.bound = travelling to that location (in this case, home)
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I am bound and determined to get into a good college.bound = headed (going toward that place--in this case, preparing and planning to go to college)
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She's a geek like Seven, smart enough for Harvard but Howard bound, and real sweet. (source)bound = heading to (a specific location)
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"Where are you bound?" asked the young Arab. (source)bound = traveling to
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I am John Holbrook, bound for Wethersfield, which I learn is your destination as well. (source)bound = traveling (to a specific location)
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It was a convict ship bound for a speck of an island in distant waters. (source)bound = heading (traveling to a specific location)
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If she were bound for the gallows, she would most certainly not spend the last moments of her life in groveling submission. (source)bound = heading (travelling) to a specific location
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So he waited until a bathroom-bound girl did it for him. (source)bound = traveling (to a specific location)
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The Naoetsu-bound men climbed aboard a truck, which bore them into Tokyo. (source)bound = heading (traveling to a specific location)
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But pretty soon they be bound for overseas. (source)bound = traveling toward
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Some years Grandpa would look out over the small, frightened herd bound for the meat grinder, at the young stallions pacing, coming to terms with their first captivity, and a hunger would appear in his eyes. (source)bound = heading (traveling to a specific location)
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bound as in: bound to succeed
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She's bound to get into a good college.bound = almost certain to
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This joke is bound to make them laugh.
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Her rudeness is bound to get her in trouble.bound = almost certain
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It wasn't Johnny's fault Bob was a booze-hound and Cherry went for boys who were bound for trouble. (source)
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It's bound to be harder to clear than the first two. (source)
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A meal presided over by just Effie and Haymitch is bound to be a disaster. (source)bound = almost certain
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Cheer up, keep your spirits high, things are bound to get better! (source)
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You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. (source)
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Gennaro said, "Your paper concludes that Hammond's island is bound to fail?" (source)bound = certain
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An idiot like you is bound to trip over or run into something. (source)bound = almost certain
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America, you call me by my name so often, it was bound to slip out. (source)
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One of them's bound to get hurt, (source)bound = certain
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If you ingest too much swainsonine, you are bound to starve, no matter how much food you put into your stomach. (source)
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His parents must be pulling their hair out, Officer Delinko thought, but the kid's bound to turn up safe. (source)bound = almost certain
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He's bound to come out in the wash. (source)
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bound as in: bound together or bound by law
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Her hands were bound with chains.bound = tied or held together
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A lawyer is bound by fiduciary duty to act in her client's interest.bound = required
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Her hair was bound into tight braids.bound = held together
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Economic policy is bound to political choices.bound = connected
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He is muscle bound.bound = prevented from moving easily (in this case, due to having such large, tight muscles)
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The suspect sat in the cell with her wrists bound by rope.bound = tied together
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The pieces of bread are moistened and bound together with eggs and a small amount of flour.bound = held together
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The new president said she is not bound by her predecessor's policy.bound = obligated (required to do follow)
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We are bound by treaty to come to their defense if they are invaded.bound = required
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Shipping in that area is ice-bound this time of year.bound = prevented (because there is so much ice)
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She is duty bound to try to help us.bound = required (by a job or other responsibility)
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Unlike pledged delegates, bound delegates are legally required to vote for the candidate they were elected to represent.bound = obligated (required to act in a certain way)
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The bail of straw is bound with two wires.bound = held together
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The wall was built with primitive straw-bound bricks.bound = held together (the straw helps hold the bricks together)
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The kira is the national dress for women in Bhutan. It is an ankle-length dress consisting of a rectangular piece of fabric wrapped about the body, pinned at the shoulders, and bounded at the waist with a long belt.bounded = wrapped or held together
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The prisoner was gagged and bound.bound = tied up
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She unbound from her neck the amulets of her superstition and dropped them into the glowing brazier.† (source)standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unbound means not and reverses the meaning of bound. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
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We knew you were free then, unbound by disappointing results.† (source)
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bound as in: out of bounds
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The ball went out of bounds.out of bounds = the boundaries of an area where a game is played
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She stepped out of bounds, so the other team got the ball.
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Her behavior was out of bounds.out of bounds = beyond the limits of what is acceptable
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Our love knows no bounds.bounds = boundaries (saying it is limitless)
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The ranch is bound to the east by a river.bound = has a boundary
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The first scholar said it was between 100 and 200 C.E., but the second scholar suggested a lower bound.bound = limit (in this case, a time before 100 A.D.)
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The beach was hours away by bicycle, forbidden, completely out of all bounds. (source)bounds = boundaries or limits
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She stared longingly into the boundless gray distance as if far, far on the other side of Lake Michigan lay China. (source)boundless = without boundaries or limitsstandard suffix: The suffix "-less" in boundless means without. This is the same pattern you see in words like fearless, homeless, and endless.
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There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set.† (source)standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unbounded means not and reverses the meaning of bounded. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
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And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death. (source)out of bounds = beyond the permitted boundary or limit
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The question was far out-of-bounds, but at the moment it didn't seem so.† (source)
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Ahead of them was a small apple orchard bounded by a stone wall, and beyond this the woods through which they had walked that afternoon. (source)bounded = surrounded
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Their relationship was built on friendship, and in matters of friendship he was boundlessly loyal.† (source)
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I began to cry—deep, silent, racking sobs, my face turned away from Titch, staring out onto the boundlessness of the world.† (source)standard suffix: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.
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Night came, and Passepartout re-entered the native quarter, where he wandered through the streets, lit by vari-coloured lanterns, looking on at the dancers, who were executing skilful steps and boundings, and the astrologers who stood in the open air with their telescopes.† (source)
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bound as in: The deer bound across the trail.
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She's the sort of person who bounds out of bed in the morning and runs five miles before starting her day.
bounds = jumps
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The deer bounded across the trail and into the woods.bounded = leaped (jumped)
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The dog jumped the fence in a single bound.bound = leap
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The company is growing by leaps and bounds.bounds = jumps
(This expression means that the company is growing very rapidly.)
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We bounded down the sidewalk on a spree of sheer relief, leaping and howling. (source)bounded = moved quickly (with leaping strides)
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In four bounding steps she covered the distance to the goat, bent down, and bit it through the neck. (source)bounding = moving quickly with leaping strides
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With a bound she was over the side and had set foot on America. (source)bound = leap
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With that, he bounds back up the escalator and disappears inside Journeys. (source)bounds = moved quickly (with leaping strides)
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in a shower Grapes that o'ercluster Gush into must, or Flow into rivers Of foaming and flashing Wine, that is dashing Gems, as it boundeth Down the high places, And spreading, surroundeth With crystalline spaces, In happy embraces, Blossoming forelands, Emerald shore-lands!† (source)standard suffix: Today, the suffix "-eth" is replaced by "-s", so that where they said "She boundeth" in older English, today we say "She bounds."
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Turtle bounded up. "Let me out of here: a person can't breathe in this closet." (source)bounded = jumped or leaped
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Without seeing him, Ender knew it would bring his face closer, almost in Ender's hair; so instead of kicking he lunged upward off the floor, with the powerful lunge of the soldier bounding from the wall, and jammed his head into Bonzo's face. (source)bounding = leaping
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…and a number of people who thought they were right young and spry have noticed that they can't bound up a flight of stairs like they used to, without their heart fluttering a little…. (source)bound = leap
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Everyone turned as Stacey bounded down the steps. (source)bounded = moved quickly
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In a moment the dogs came bounding back. (source)bounding = leaping or jumping
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meaning too rare to warrant focus
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And thy hair,
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first;—
A third is like the former.
(source)
bound = encircled
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