Pound Definition

pound
pounded, pounding, pounds
noun
pounds
The basic unit of weight in the FPS system, equal to l6 ounces avoirdupois (453.59237 grams)
Webster's New World
A unit of weight equal to 12 ounces troy or 12 ounces apothecaries' (373.2418 grams)
Webster's New World
Any of the basic monetary units of various countries, as Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria.
Webster's New World
The basic monetary unit of the United Kingdom, equal to 100 (new) pennies: before 1971 a pound was equal to 20 shillings or 240 pennies.
Webster's New World
A former Scottish monetary unit (pound Scots), originally equal to the British pound.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
verb
pounded, pounding, pounds
To deliver repeated, heavy blows (at or on a door, etc.)
Webster's New World
To strike repeatedly and forcefully, especially with the hand or a tool.
Pounded the nail with a hammer.
American Heritage
To beat to a pulp, powder, etc.; pulverize.
Webster's New World
To force or impose.
Pound sense into him.
Webster's New World
To make by pounding.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
idiom
pound the pavement
  • To travel the streets on foot, especially in search of work.
American Heritage
pound out
  • to flatten, smooth, etc. by pounding
Webster's New World
pound the pavement
  • to walk the streets, as in looking for work
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Pound

Noun

Singular:
pound
Plural:
pounds

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Pound

Origin of Pound

  • From an alteration of earlier poun, pown, from Middle English pounen, from Old English pÅ«nian (“to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush"), from Proto-Germanic *pÅ«nōnÄ… (“to break to pieces, pulverise"). Related to Saterland Frisian Pün (“debris, fragments"), Dutch puin (“debris, fragments, rubbish"), Low German pun (“fragments"). Perhaps influenced by Etymology 2 Middle English *pound, pond, from Old English *pund, pynd, in relation to the hollow mortar for pounding with the pestle.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English, from Old English pund (“a pound, weight"), from Proto-Germanic *pundÄ… (“pound, weight"), an early borrowing from Latin pondō (“by weight"), ablative form of pondus (“weight"), from Proto-Indo-European *pend-, *spend- (“to pull, stretch"). Cognate with Dutch pond, German Pfund, Swedish pund.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English *pound, pond, from Old English *pund (“an inclosure"), attested by pyndan (“to enclose, shut up, dam, impound"). Compare also Old English pynd (“a cistern, lake").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old English pund from West Germanic punda- from Latin (lībra) pondō (a pound) by weight (s)pen- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English from Old English pund- enclosure (as in pundfall pen)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English pounden alteration of pounen from Old English pūnian

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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