Link Centre Dictionary

pound

UK/paʊnd/ US/ˈpaʊ̯nd/ common informal slang uk us
noun (12) verb (8)

noun

1.

16 ounces

  • “he tried to lift 100 pounds”
Synonyms
2.
3.

the basic unit of money in Syria; equal to 100 piasters

Synonyms
4.

the basic unit of money in the Sudan; equal to 100 piasters

Synonyms
5.

the basic unit of money in Lebanon; equal to 100 piasters

Synonyms
6.

formerly the basic unit of money in Ireland; equal to 100 pence

Synonyms
7.

the basic unit of money in Egypt; equal to 100 piasters

Synonyms
8.

the basic unit of money in Cyprus; equal to 100 cents

Synonyms
9.

a nontechnical unit of force equal to the mass of 1 pound with an acceleration of free fall equal to 32 feet/sec/sec

Synonyms
10.

United States writer who lived in Europe; strongly influenced the development of modern literature (1885-1972)

Synonyms
11.

a public enclosure for stray or unlicensed dogs

  • “unlicensed dogs will be taken to the pound”
Synonyms
12.

the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows)

  • “the sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard”
  • “the pounding of feet on the hallway”
Synonyms

verb

1.

hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument

  • “the salesman pounded the door knocker”
  • “a bible-thumping Southern Baptist”
Synonyms
2.

strike or drive against with a heavy impact

  • “ram the gate with a sledgehammer”
  • “pound on the door”
Synonyms
3.

move heavily or clumsily

  • “The heavy man lumbered across the room”
Synonyms
4.

move rhythmically

  • “Her heart was beating fast”
Synonyms
5.

partition off into compartments

  • “The locks pound the water of the canal”
Synonyms
6.

shut up or confine in any enclosure or within any bounds or limits

  • “The prisoners are safely pounded”
Synonyms
7.

place or shut up in a pound

  • “pound the cows so they don”
Synonyms
8.

break down and crush by beating, as with a pestle

  • “pound the roots with a heavy flat stone”

Origin

From Middle English pound, from Old English pund (“a pound, weight”), from Proto-West Germanic *pund, from Proto-Germanic *pundą (“pound, weight”), an early borrowing from Latin pondō (“by weight”), ablative form of pondus (“weight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to pull, stretch”). Cognate with Dutch pond, German Pfund, Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish pund. Doublet of funt, pfund, pood, and punt.

Phrases

  • 800-pound gorilla
  • 800-pound gorilla in the room
  • a pound to a penny
  • Amsterdam pound
  • an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure
  • an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
  • assay pound
  • avoirdupois pound
  • dog pound
  • enough sense to pound sand into a rathole
  • fish pound
  • ground and pound

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.