pound

noun

1. 1

   A unit of weight in various measurement systems.

   B-2 bombers are the only plane capable of carrying the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which experts have highlighted as the only type of bomb potentially capable of destroying Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility. Each B-2 bomber is able to carry two of these “bunker buster” bombs, which weigh an impressive 30,000 pounds each.

2. 2

   A unit of weight in various measurement systems. Various non-English units of measure.

3. 3

   A unit of mass in various measurement systems. Various non-English units of measure.

4. 4

   A unit of mass in various measurement systems. A unit of mass equal to 16 avoirdupois ounces (= 453.592 g). Today this value is the most common meaning of "pound" as a unit of weight.

   Research shows that retaining even one or two pounds after giving birth can make problems more likely in a subsequent pregnancy, experts said, with women who have several children facing a "slippery slope" if they continue to gain weight each time.

5. 5

   A unit of mass in various measurement systems. A unit of mass equal to 12 troy ounces (≈ 373.242 g). Today, this is a common unit of mass when measuring precious metals, and is little used elsewhere.

6. 6

   A unit of force in various measurement systems Various non-English units of measure.

7. 7

   A base unit of currency in various currency systems. The base unit of sterling, the currency used in the United Kingdom and some of its dependencies. It is divided into 100 pence.

   "Only a hundred and ninety-three pound," said Mr. Tulliver. "You've brought less o' late; but young fellows like to have their own way with their money. Though I didn't do as I liked before I was of age." He spoke with rather timid discontent.

   For students in developing countries who can't get it any other way, or for students in the first world, who can but may choose not to. Pay thousands of pounds a year for your education? Or get it free online?

8. 8

   A base unit of currency in various currency systems. Any of various units of currency used in Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria, and formerly in the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Nigeria, Israel, and South Africa.

   He glanced back through what he had read and, while feeling his water flow quietly, he envied kindly Mr Beaufoy who had written it and received payment of three pounds, thirteen and six.

9. 9

   A base unit of currency in various currency systems. Any of various units of currency formerly used in the United States.

   the Rhode Island pound; the New Hampshire pound

   He knocked out cans of warm cola at two pound fifty a time.

10. 10

    informalA base unit of currency in various currency systems. Various non-English units of currency not officially called pounds.

    In the report of the Special Budget Commission certifying the estimates for 1874-75, it was announced on authority that the total amount of this debt did not exceed 14,725,000 Turkish pounds(liras), or £13,000,000, while the Special Commission for the verification of the budget for 1875-76 returned the total amount at 10,309,521 Turkish pounds(liras), or £8,935,000.

11. 11

    The symbol #.

    Holonym: hashtag

    To be connected, press pound.

12. 12

    Variant of pound weightA unit of weight in various measurement systems. Ellipsis of pound weight.

13. 13

    Variant of pound massA unit of mass in various measurement systems. Ellipsis of pound mass.

14. 14

    Variant of pound forceA unit of force in various measurement systems Ellipsis of pound force.

15. 15

    Variant of pound-forceinformalA unit of force in various measurement systems Ellipsis of pound-force.

verb

1. 1

   slangTo wager a pound on.

   ‘Good-bye, my dear!' said Sleary. 'You'll make your fortun, I hope, and none of our poor folkth will ever trouble you, I'll pound it.’

   “He's done,” said the Moocher brutally. “He didn't hear nuffin, I'll pound it.”

noun

1. 1

   A place for the detention of stray or wandering animals.

   Mr. Sarnoff also sent to the pound one of the best-known dogs in the world. Nipper, the black-and-white terrier usually depicted peering with head cocked into the horn of a Victrola, listening for “His Master's Voice,” was de-emphasized as a corporate symbol.

2. 2

   The people who work for the pound.

   (Police officer to a dog owner) "He'd better stay calm or I'll have the pound come and get him."

3. 3

   A place for the detention of automobiles that have been illegally parked, abandoned, etc.

   Inspector Douglas Todd: Where did you get a truckload of cigarettes from anyway? / Detective Axel Foley: From the Dearborn Hijacking. / Todd: The Dearborn Hijacking? That bust went down weeks ago. That load's supposed to be in the damn pound!

4. 4

   A section of a canal between two adjacent locks.

5. 5

   A kind of fishing net, having a large enclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.

   Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.

6. 6

   A division inside a fishing stage where cod is cured in salt brine.

verb

1. 1

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

   When I short haue shorne my sowce face & swigg’d my horny barrell, In an oaken Inne I pound my skin as a suite of guilt apparrell

   And he who were pleasantly disposed, could not well avoid to liken it to the exploit of that gallant man, who thought to pound up the crows by shutting his park gate.

verb

1. 1

   To strike hard, usually repeatedly.

   She had Lord James' collar in one big fist and she pounded the table with the other and talked a blue streak. Nobody could make out plain what she said, for she was mainly jabbering Swede lingo, but there was English enough, of a kind, to give us some idee.

   [...] and on the Saturday heavy seas pounded the W.R. on its exposed coastal stretch between Dawlish and Teignmouth, loosening the ballast and forcing trains to proceed with extreme caution.

   I pounded on a farmhouse / Lookin' for a place to stay / I was mighty, mighty tired / I had come a long, long way

2. 2

   To crush to pieces; to pulverize.

   Pound an onion, warm a spoonful of ghee and throw in the onion, brown it slightly, add your curry stuff, brown this till it smells pleasantly, […]

   It was the hour before the first crowing of the cocks, and along with Nyo Boto and Grandma Yaisa's clattering, the first sound the child heard was the muted, rhythmic bombpabombpabomp of wooden pestles as the other women of the village pounded couscous grain in their mortars, preparing the traditional breakfast of porridge that was cooked in earthen pots over a fire built among three rocks.

3. 3

   slangTo eat or drink very quickly.

   You really pounded that beer!

   The sounds of a house-party rolled down the street / So we pounded our Pilsner and leapt to our feet

4. 4

   slangTo pitch consistently to a certain location.

   The pitcher has been pounding the outside corner all night.

5. 5

   To beat strongly or throb.

   As I tiptoed past the sleeping dog, my heart was pounding but I remained silent.

   My head was pounding.

   It was now about three o’clock in the morning and Francis Macomber, who had been asleep a little while after he had stopped thinking about the lion, wakened and then slept again, woke suddenly, frightened in a dream of the bloody-headed lion standing over him, and listening while his heart pounded, he realized that his wife was not in the other cot in the tent.

   I can't let go, you're like the chemical You're racing through me My heart just pounds, pounds, pounds...

6. 6

   slangTo penetrate sexually, with vigour.

   I was pounding her all night!

   She acting, so I'm attacking, try break the mattress / Sexy, so I suggested to switch to sideways / Pounded for 'bout a hour she said she tired

7. 7

   To advance heavily with measured steps.

   We pounded along, stopped, landed soldiers; went on, landed custom–house clerks to levy toll in what looked like a God–forsaken wilderness, with a tin shed and a flag–pole lost in it; landed more soldiers—to take care of the custom–house clerks, presumably.

8. 8

   To make a jarring noise, as when running.

   The engine pounds.

noun

1. 1

   A hard blow.

Forms

plural

pounds

past tense

pounded

past participle

pounded

present participle

pounding

third person singular

pounds