All 6 Uses of

bond

in

The Scarlet Letter

I have met with grievous mishaps by sea and land, and have been long held in bonds among the heathen-folk to the southward; and am now brought hither by this Indian to be redeemed out of my captivity.
p. 45.2

bonds = restraints such as ropes

"My home is where thou art and where he is. But betray me not!"
"Wherefore dost thou desire it?" inquired Hester, shrinking, she hardly knew why, from this secret bond.
p. 54.1

bond = binding promise

—the people's victim and lifelong bond-slave, as they fancied her,
p. 152.8

bond = bound to work without wages

Her spirit sank with the idea that all must have been a delusion, and that, vividly as she had dreamed it, there could be no real bond betwixt the clergyman and herself.
p. 160.5 *

bond = connection

When the Black Man sees one of his own servants, signed and sealed, so shy of owning to the bond as is the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, he hath a way of ordering matters so that the mark shall be disclosed, in open daylight, to the eyes of all the world!
p. 161.9

Definitions:

(1) (bond as in: a close bond)
a close connection; or to form such a connection; or something that holds things together (creates a connection)
(2) (bond as in: the bond market)
a certificate issued by a government or corporation that promises to pay a debt with interest in return for a loan
(3) (bond as in: released on a $10,000 bond)
an amount of money a court orders a defendant to pay to be released from jail prior to a trial (The money is returned after trial, but is collected to help assure the defendant will appear at trial.)
(4) (bonded as in: all our employees are bonded)
insured to cover any loss resulting from dishonesty
(5) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Less commonly, bond can refer to:
- a formal or sincere agreement
- a duty
- a specific way that atoms are held together
- a type of paper
- a specific way of laying bricks
- something used to tie things together or prevent free movement