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/paʊnd/ Listen

noun

Pound n.

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.

A level stretch in a canal between locks.

(Fishing) A kind of net, having a large inclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.

Pound covert, a pound that is close or covered over, as a shed.

Pound overt, a pound that is open overhead.

Pound n. (pl. pounds, collectively pound or pounds)

A certain specified measure of mass or weight; especially, a legal standard consisting of an established number of ounces. Note: 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 (0.453 kilogram). 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.

A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about $4.86 in 1900 and $1.50 in 2002. The modern pound coin was introduced in 1983. Formerly there was a gold sovereign of the same value. Note: 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.

verb

Pound v. t. (past & past part. pounded; pres. part. pounding)

To strike repeatedly with some heavy instrument; to beat. "With cruel blows she pounds her blubbered cheeks."

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 v. t. To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound.

Pound v. i.

To strike heavy blows; to beat.

(Mach.) To make a jarring noise, as in running; as, the engine pounds.

See images of 'Pound'

Etymology of 'Pound'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pound" Quotes from Famous Books

... this very night. I have searched the Elizabeth from stem to stern, and the craft brought up alongside of her; and all I have found is a wretched Frenchman, who skulked so that I made sure of him, and not a blessed anker of foreign brandy, nor even a forty-pound bag of tea. You had that packet of letters in your neck-tie. Hand them to ...

— Mary Anerley • R. D. Blackmore

... and make it up with him, and then borrow? I weighed the chances of that. Then I thought of selling or pawning something, but that seemed difficult. My winter overcoat had not cost a pound when it was new, my watch was not likely to fetch many shillings. Still, both these things might be factors. I thought with a certain repugnance of the little store my mother was probably making for the rent. She was very secretive about ...

— In the Days of the Comet • H. G. Wells

... currents may have driven too near their coast. When the vessels are captured the cargoes are deposited in their warehouses, the vessels are broken up, and the crews are retained as slaves, to dig yams or pound paddy. Unless they are irritated by a desperate resistance, or they attack an inimical tribe, they do not shed blood, as has generally been supposed; restrained, however, by no other feeling than that of avarice, for the slaves are too valuable to be destroyed. In their physiognomy these ...

— Borneo and the Indian Archipelago - with drawings of costume and scenery • Frank S. Marryat

... in suspension settles rapidly, a serious fault. It is more soluble than arsenate of lead and hence there is greater danger of burning the foliage with it. Moreover, it costs from twenty to twenty-five cents a pound, and the arsenate of lead can be purchased for from eight to ...

— Apple Growing • M. C. Burritt

... ordnance upon the Canadian shore, which in this part is thickly settled, the distance from the island being about 600 yards and within sight of the populous village of Chippewa. They put several balls (6-pound shot) through a house in which a party of militiamen were quartered and which is the dwelling house of Captain Usher, a respectable inhabitant. They killed a horse on which a man at the time was riding, but happily did no ...

— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 3: Martin Van Buren • James D. Richardson

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