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单词 pound
释义

poundn.1

Brit. /paʊnd/, U.S. /paʊnd/
Inflections: Plural pounds, (colloquial and regional) unchanged.
Forms: Old English–1600s pund, Middle English poind, Middle English ponge (transmission error), Middle English pount, Middle English povnde, Middle English powund, Middle English punde (northern), Middle English puwn (south-western), Middle English–1500s pond, Middle English–1500s ponde, Middle English–1500s powne, Middle English–1600s pounde, Middle English–1600s pownd, Middle English–1600s pownde, Middle English– pound, 1500s puone; English regional (northern and midlands) 1800s– pun, 1800s– pun', 1800s– pund, 1800s– p'und; U.S. regional 1900s– pahn (Pennsylvania), 1900s– poun'; Scottish pre-1700 poind, pre-1700 pond, pre-1700 ponddis (plural), pre-1700 ponde, pre-1700 pounde, pre-1700 povnde, pre-1700 pownd, pre-1700 powynd, pre-1700 poynde, pre-1700 puind, pre-1700 punde, pre-1700 pwnd, pre-1700 pwnde, pre-1700 1700s– pound, pre-1700 1700s– pund, pre-1700 1800s pun, 1800s poun', 1800s poun, 1800s pun', 1800s 2000s– poon, 1800s– poond, 1800s– powin, 1900s– powan, 1900s– powen, 1900s– pown; also Irish English (northern) 1800s– pun', 1900s– poon', 1900s– pun.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian pund (West Frisian pûn ), Middle Dutch pont , pondt (Dutch pond ), Old Saxon pund (Middle Low German punt , German regional (Low German) pund ), Old High German phunt (Middle High German phunt , German Pfund ), Old Icelandic pund , Old Swedish pund (Swedish pund ), Old Danish pund (Danish pund ), Gothic pund < a Germanic base < classical Latin pondō by weight, originally ablative of an unattested form *pondus (2nd declension), replaced by ponder- , pondus pondus n. From its use with a numeral (short for lībra pondō a pound by weight, a pound weight), the Latin word was reinterpreted in Germanic as denoting a pound (weight); it was borrowed into Germanic at a very early date as a result of trade contacts and the consequent necessity for accurate measurement. Compare also Finnish punta ( < early Scandinavian).Formerly used without change in the plural (reflecting both the Old English unchanged neuter nominative and accusative plural and the genitive plural in -a ). The unchanged plural was long retained following a cardinal number, a common feature of words denoting units of measurement (compare foot n. 6a, mark n.2, etc.), and still common in colloquial and regional English.
1.
a. A unit of weight and mass originally derived from the ancient Roman libra, varying at different periods, in different countries, and for different commodities (see note below). Now chiefly: (a) (in avoirdupois measure) a standardized unit of weight and mass equal to 16 ounces (7000 grains: now exactly 0.45359237 kg); (b) (in troy and apothecaries' measure) a unit of weight equal to 12 ounces (5760 grains: approx. 0.3732 kg). Abbreviated lb.The pound was originally made up of 12 ounces, as in the system of troy weight which is still used in stating the weight of precious metals; but as early as the 13th cent. a merchant's pound of 15 ounces was in use for more bulky commodities. In the 14th cent. this was replaced by a pound of 16 ounces, which was made a standard for general purposes of trade by Edward III, and known as the pound aveir de peis, i.e. of merchandise of weight (see avoirdupois n.). The Weights and Measures Act of 1855 ( Act 18 & 19 Vict. c. 72) standardized this in Great Britain as the imperial pound of 453.592338 grams, corresponding to the weight of a bar of platinum kept as a standard. (A previous standard was lost in 1834 when the Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire.)In 1959 an international standard pound of exactly 453.59237 grams was introduced, a value intermediate between the imperial standard pound of 453.592338 grams and the U.S. pound of 453.5924277 grams, and divisible by 7 in order to facilitate the conversion of grains into grams. This was adopted as the standard pound in the United Kingdom in the Weights and Measures Act of 1963 ( Act 11 & 12 Eliz. II. c. 31). The pound formerly also varied locally between 12 and 27 ounces, according to the commodity, pounds of different weight being often used in the same place for different articles, as bread, butter, cheese, meat, malt, hay, wool, etc. (Cf. the list in J. Britten Old Country & Farming Words (1880) 174–5.) In Scotland, the standard troy pound consisted of 7656.25 grains, and the tron-pound varied locally between 21 and 28 ounces (the standard kept at Edinburgh weighed 9622.67 grains). Pound is also used to translate foreign names of weights, of cognate origin or representatives of Latin libra, which vary between around 307 and 560 grams.foot-pound: see foot n. and int. Compounds 2.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > pound
poundeOE
poundeOE
wey?c1225
lb1390
li.c1450
pound-weight1466
litre1603
eOE (Kentish) Charter: Oswulf & Beornðryð to Christ Church, Canterbury (Sawyer 1188) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 1 An hriðer dugunde & iiii scęp & tua flicca & v goes & x hennfuglas & x pund caeses.
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xii. 3 Maria nam an pund deorwyrðre sealfe.
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) iii. iii. 184 An uncia stent on feower and twentig penegum. (Twelf siðon twelf [read twentig] penegas beoð on anum punde.)
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 22 Ða het he wurcean ænne sealfrene hop of þrittiȝæ pundon & bismeoðian abutæn þæt treow..& allswa felæ ȝearæ swa hit ðer weox, swa fela seolfrenæ hopæ he ðerto dyde, ant anre ȝehwylc wæs on þrittiȝe pundæ.
?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 11 Se sester sceal weȝan twa pund be sylfyrȝewyht.
c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 810 To hire he haþ iȝolde Twenti pond of ride golde, And to Daris..Twenti pund he araȝte.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) 7 (MED) Wiþ a pound of oynement ȝeo smerede his ffet.
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 54 If any broyer..wil nouht come..he xal paye a pound of wax to ye lytz.
c1440 Privity of Passion (Thornton) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 209 (MED) Þey broghte..a hundrethe pounde of aloes & of myre.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 19 Take a pownde of ryse and sethe hom wele.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxi. 9 With a fals punde thei begile them that sees thaim.
1532 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1905) VI. 156 xxviij li culvering pulder, price of ilk pund iiij s.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. Introd. 40 Of elephants,..some of their teeth do weigh two hundred pounds, at sixteene ounces the pound.
1602 W. Fulbecke Pandectes 71 An hundred fortie two thousand pound of siluer.
1744 G. Berkeley Siris (ESTC T72826) §22 This excellent balsam may be purchased for a penny a pound.
1752 Philos. Trans. 1749–50 (Royal Soc.) 46 59 In the Year 1696.., the Standard Troy Weights were compared with the Standard Avoirdepois, and 15 Pounds of the latter were found equal to 18 Pounds 2 Ounces 15 Penyweights Troy; which fixes the Pound Avoirdepois at 7000 such Grains, as the Troy Pound weighs 5760.
a1796 R. Burns (title) The weary Pund o' Tow.
1855 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. (Gloss.) 1125/3 Pound (Bucks.), sometimes 17 oz.; (Chesh.), 18 oz.; (Corn.), 18 oz.; (Derbys.), 17 oz.; (Devons.), 18 oz.; (Dorset), in some parts 18 oz.; (Durham), in many parts 22 oz.; etc., etc.
1882 Cent. Mag. Nov. 80/2 At every gate was a demi-culverin—a long gun carrying a nine-pound shot.
1911 F. Farmer Catering for Special Occasions vi. 146 Dress, clean, stuff, and truss a ten-pound cock turkey.
1935 ‘G. Orwell’ Clergyman's Daughter i. 37 Perhaps tomorrow she would get two pounds of sausages at the International.
1959 Nature 10 Jan. 81 With regard to the pound, the values currently in use..are: 1 imperial standard pound = 0·453 592 338 kgm.; 1 Canadian pound = 0·453 592 43 kgm.; 1 United States pound = 0·453 592 4277 kgm. There is evidence that the imperial standard pound has diminished by about 7 parts in 10 millions since 1846.
1997 Daily Tel. 30 Dec. 12/1 They soon crack under the rigid control imposed by such diets and regain all the pounds lost.
†b. A standard measure of capacity for liquid and dry substances corresponding to a pound weight of water. Also more fully water-pound. Obsolete.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > pound
poundeOE
poundeOE
wey?c1225
lb1390
li.c1450
pound-weight1466
litre1603
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. lxvii. 298 Pund eles gewihð xii penegum læsse þonne pund wætres, & pund ealoð gewihð vi penegum mare þonne pund wætres.
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 153 Norma, wæterpund.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 56 Take a pound of water þat þei ben soden ynne.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 104 (MED) Seþe þe litarge in a pound of oile.
a1500 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Wellcome) f. 33v Sethe it in A poind of water.
c. figurative. (a) A quantity of something immaterial; esp. a large quantity, a generous amount. Frequently contrasted with ounce; cf. ounce n.1 1c. Chiefly in proverbial expressions. †(b) Weight, burden. (Only in Old English.) Obsolete.
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the world > relative properties > quantity > [noun] > a quantity or amount > of an imponderable thing
poundOE
ounce1526
OE (Northumbrian) Commonplaces (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 192 Pondus uenti inde est anhela frigida, pondus gratiæ inde est sensus hominis : pund windes of ðon is oroð cald pund gefe of ðon is ðoht monnes.
OE tr. Let. of Boniface to Eadburga in K. Sisam Stud. Hist. Old Eng. Lit. (1953) 214 Þa deoflu wæ[ron wregende þa s]awle, and hig wæron heapiende hiora synna pund on hio [L. Daemones accusando et peccatorum pondus gravando].
lOE Prose Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn I (1982) ix. 26 Ðridde wæs windes pund; þanon hym [sc. Adam] wæs seo æðung geseald; feorðe wæs wolcnes pund; þanon hym wæs his modes unstaðelfæstnes geseald; [etc.].
?1473 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 370 Ye haue lyghtyd myne hert þerin by a pound.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Miiiv Better is one vnce of good lyfe, than .x. pounde of pardon.
1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse 114 They..affirme men..to haue a pound of folly to an ounce of pollicy.
1670 Sc. Prov. in J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 264 An ounce of mothers wit is worth a pound of Clergy.
a1704 T. Brown tr. Æneas Sylvius Lett. in 3rd Vol. Wks. (1708) ii. 82 An hundred Pound of Sorrow pays not an Ounce of our Debts.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote II. iii. x. 258 A pound of good luck is worth a tun of merit.
a1822 P. B. Shelley tr. J. W. von Goethe Scenes from Faust in Posthumous Poems (1824) 409 You shall buy A pound of pleasure with a dram of trouble.
1882 Harper's Mag. Nov. 968/1 Sometimes an ounce of prevention is worse than a pound of disease.
1926 People's Home Jrnl. Feb. 43/1 An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
1971 Jamaican Weekly Gleaner 3 Nov. 25/2 Today's proverb Pound' wort' a fret nebber pay quattie wort' a debt. A pound of care won't pay an ounce of debt.
2002 A. Davies Frog King 107 An ounce of ass-kissing is worth a pound of employment.
†d. Originally and chiefly Scottish. A pound weight; a weight. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > weight or relative heaviness > [noun] > ponderable matter > that which is heavy or a heavy mass > used on account of its weight
weightc1425
pound1450
poise1531
plummet1612
pondus1719
weighting1875
1450 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Edinb. (c1580) I. 12 That all merchands..sell irne [etc.]..be wecht weiyit with the troyne and with na vther..saif allanerlie punds maid beyond se belangand to spycerie.
1511–12 in M. Livingstone Reg. Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1908) I. 363/1 Faltis..anent the using of ony wechtis or mesouris as stane pundis ballancis [etc.].
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. i. 315 This Tiger-footed-rage..will (too late) Tye Leaden pounds too's heeles. View more context for this quotation
1696 in R. W. Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scotl. (1876) II. 262 The comittie..tryed the ponds for the fyve shilling starling the twentie shilling Scotts and the five shilling Scots peices by the Dean of Gilds pile of weights.
†e. in pound: (perhaps) in pounds; in a balance. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > as determined by weighing [phrase]
by weightc1000
in pound1596
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. ii. sig. N7v But if thou now shouldst weigh them new in pound, We are not sure they would so long remaine. View more context for this quotation
f. figurative. pound of flesh n. something strictly or legally due, but which it is ruthless or inhuman to demand.With allusion to the literal pound of flesh demanded by Shylock of Antonio in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice: see quot. 1600.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [noun] > exactingness > severe imposition or demand
pound of flesh1787
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > [noun] > a debt > proverbially
in the mercer's book1591
pound of flesh1787
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iv. i. 98 Iewe. The pound of flesh which I demaund of him is deerely bought, as mine and I will haue it. View more context for this quotation]
1787 Strictures on Pamphlet signed Theophilus 15 Instead of a tenth, it is probable that a twentieth would have been thought sufficient... But ye have the letter of the law on your side—‘a pound of flesh nearest his heart’.
1823 Ld. Byron Age of Bronze xv. 33 On Shylock's shore behold them stand afresh, To cut from nation's hearts their ‘pound of flesh’.
1887 Fortn. Rev. Jan. 14 All the other Great Powers want their pound of flesh from Turkey.
1905 Baroness Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel vii. 62 That relentless and stern France which was exacting her pound of flesh, the blood-tax from the noblest of her sons.
1950 S. J. Perelman Swiss Family Perelman vi. 98 America..occupied the curious dual role of skinflint and sucker, the usurer bent on exacting his pound of flesh and the hapless pigeon whose poke was a challenge to any smart grifter.
1999 M. Weiss Slow Tango in South Seattle in Best of Frasier 66 Roz. Would you calm down? Frasier. Not until I have exacted my pound of flesh.
g. Nautical slang (now historical). pound and pint n. a sailor's ration of food and drink as determined by the Board of Trade's Scale of Provisions. pound and pinter n. a ship on which rations were provided on this scale.† pound-and-pint idler n. obsolete a purser.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > supply of food or provisions > rations > [noun] > for sailors
pound and pint1867
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > sailors involved in specific duties or activities > [noun] > purser
purser1445
pusser1866
pound-and-pint idler1867
sea-grocer-
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > [noun] > vessel according to payment or rations of crew
monthly ship1871
weekly boat1888
monthly boat1898
pound and pinter1938
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 540 Pound-and-pint-idler, a sobriquet applied to the purser.
1892 Times 8 June 13/3 So long as he gives the legal ‘pound and pint’ the men may growl, but go they must.
1902 W. Runciman Windjammers & Sea Tramps vii. 90 Their ‘whack’, or to be strictly accurate, the phrase commonly used was ‘your pound and pint’.
1938 W. E. Dexter Rope-yarns v. 31 It seemed my lot to mostly sail in what we called ‘hungry-gutted ships’, ‘pound and pinters’.
1952 ‘Sinbad’ Sargasso Sam xxviii. 211 Wot about tucker? We never come aboard this old wagon to eat deepwater muck. Looks like we're gettin' pound an' pint and no more.
1986 N. A. M. Rodger Wooden World (1988) ii. 45 There were occasional boisterous ceremonies, particularly on crossing the line, when those who had never crossed paid a forfeit of ‘pound and pint’.
h. [Rhyming slang.] More fully pound of lead. The head.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [noun]
nolleOE
headOE
topa1225
copc1264
scalpa1300
chiefc1330
crownc1330
jowla1400
poll?a1400
testea1400
ball in the hoodc1400
palleta1425
noddle?1507
costard?1515
nab?1536
neck1560
coxcomb1567
sconce1567
now1568
headpiece1579
mazer1581
mazardc1595
cockcomb1602
costrel1604
cranion1611
pasha1616
noddle pate1622
block1635
cranium1647
sallet1652
poundrel1664
nob1699
crany?1730
knowledge box1755
noodle1762
noggin1769
napper1785
garret1796
pimple1811
knowledge-casket1822
coco1828
cobbra1832
coconut1834
top-piece1838
nut1841
barnet1857
twopenny1859
chump1864
topknot1869
conk1870
masthead1884
filbert1886
bonce1889
crumpet1891
dome1891
roof1897
beanc1905
belfry1907
hat rack1907
melon1907
box1908
lemon1923
loaf1925
pound1933
sconec1945
nana1966
1933 F. Richards Old Soldiers never Die xiv. 180 We old hands often used to remark that when we did get hit it would either be a bullet through the pound or stop a five-point-nine all on our own.
1961 J. Franklyn Dict. Rhyming Slang (ed. 2) 163 Pound of lead (often reduced to ‘pound’) is an alternative form of lump of lead [= head].
2.
a. Originally: an English money of account (originally, a pound weight of silver), of the value of 20 shillings or 240 pence, and formerly represented by the gold sovereign. Later: the principal British monetary unit, since 15 February 1971 equal to 100 new pence. Denoted by £ before the numeral (in early use frequently by l. after it), and distinguished by the epithet sterling.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > standards and values of currencies > [noun] > specific monetary units or units of account > specific English
shillingc900
poundOE
markOE
half-marka1056
Mk.1642
heartsease1665
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > English banknotes > [noun] > one-pound note
poundOE
note1775
pound note1805
one-pounder1811
one1846
jim1906
Bradbury1917
Fisher1922
oncer1931
sheet1937
iron man1938
saucepan lid1951
single1961
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xviii. 24 Him wæs an broht se him sceolde tyn þusend punda.
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. i. 60 xx scillingas beoð on anum punde, and twelf siðon twentig penega byð an pund.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 777 Þa let he Cuðbriht ealdorma[n] x bondeland..& swa þæt seo Cuðbriht geaf þone abbote l punde þær fore.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 37 He spæc þa wið ænne mon þe him ahte to ȝeldene ten þusend pundæ.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1101 An ȝaf for me an hundred punde.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 409 (MED) Þe kyng ȝaf hym þe bisshopriche for a þowsand pounde.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 82 (MED) A litel deed leed costiþ many þousand pond bi ȝere to oure pore lond.
a1500 (a1400) Sir Amadace (Adv.) (1810) 355 The warst hors is worthe ten pownde.
1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. M.vii Poundes and shyllynges,..though they haue no coynes, yet is there no name more in vse than they.
1608 T. Middleton Your Fiue Gallants sig. D3 I can lend you 3 pound sir... There tis in six angels.
a1653 R. Filmer Disc. Use for Money (1678) 4 A Father to stir up..the industry of his Son, doth lend him an hundred pound with a peirastical Covenant for gain not intending..to take any interest at all.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiii. 300 Ten brave Spanish Horses, the worst of which cost there three hundred pounds sterling.
1795 E. Tatham Nat. Debt 14 Put the National funded Debt at Two Hundred Millions of Pounds.
1818 ‘A. Burton’ Adventures Johnny Newcome 145 He'd sell them for five pounds a head.
1888 A. Dobson Goldsmith 112 ‘Pounds’ and ‘guineas’ were then [in the time of Dr. Johnson], as Croker points out in one of his notes, convertible terms.
1948 G. W. Southgate Eng. Econ. Hist. (new ed.) xxx. 298 For some years the American exchange was ‘pegged’ at 4·761/2 dollars to the pound sterling.
1995 A. Enright Wig my Father Wore 21 Seven pounds fifty they cost me.
b. Chiefly in plural. A large sum of money, frequently contrasted with penny, shilling, or †mark (obsolete). See also pound-foolish adj., take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves at penny n. Phrases 3d.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > large sum
pounda1225
ransom?a1300
fother14..
gob1542
mint1579
king's ransomc1590
abomination1604
coda1680
a pretty (also fine, fair, etc.) penny1710
plunk1767
big money1824
pot1856
big one?1863
a small fortune1874
four figures1893
poultice1902
parcel1903
bundle1905
pretty1909
real money1918
stack1919
packet1922
heavy sugar1926
motza1936
big bucks1941
bomb1958
wedge1977
megadollars1980
squillion1986
bank1995
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 67 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 162 Alse mid his penie alse oðer mið his punde.
c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. B) l. 5 Hwar beoþ nu þeo pundes þurh [pa]newes igædered?
c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) 452 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 14 (MED) Þine heouene i-nelle bi-leue for marke ne for pounde.
c1395 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Tale 707 Neuere heer after wol I with hym mete For peny ne for pound.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 5986 He shal..Lese all his markis and his poundis.
c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) 889 (MED) That wyf hym tauȝt markes and poundes.
1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Cv Thou maist for shyllinges gather poundes.
1562 J. Mountgomery in Archaeologia (1883) 47 240 Reamembringe that well ys spent the pennie that salveth the pounde.
1656 W. Charleton tr. Epicurus's Morals xiv. 78 They..conceive that their lives must be most miserable, unlesse they can have wherewith to spend pounds and Talents every day.
1742 B. Whichcote Sel. Serm. ii. 248 Whosoever hath not a Penny to bestow, whereby he may express his Charity; yet he may be more charitable, than if he gave Pounds.
1775 J. Lind Remarks Princ. Acts Thirteenth Parl. Great Brit. I. i. 74 If I pay shillings for the windows that light my cottage, each of them will pay pounds for the windows that illuminate his house.
1819 W. Irving Rip Van Winkle in Sketch Bk. i. 65 [He] would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.
1870 S. H. Hodgson Theory of Pract. I. iv. xxxii. 234 Suppose that the expectation is falsified for the better, that we expect to be paid pence and are paid pounds.
1920 Times 1 Jan. 18/1 It [sc. Ideal Home magazine] shows you how to do things yourself that would cost pounds to find out in any other way.
1941 D. Thomas Let. 28 May (1987) 486 If you do have a tiny bit to spare,..do send it, Vernon... Anything..from a penny to a pound.
1993 S. McAughtry Touch & Go vii. 51 When you'd spent pounds and couldn't drink any more, Mulgrew gave you the bum's rush.
c. In full pound Scots. A former Scottish monetary unit. Now historical.Originally of the same value as the pound sterling, at the time of the Union of the Crowns in 1603 it was equal to one twelfth of that amount, being divided into 20 shillings each of the value of an English penny.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > standards and values of currencies > [noun] > specific monetary units or units of account > specific Scottish
poundc1400
shilling great1474
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 197 (MED) Þe Abbot of Scone..wolde ȝeue him a þousand pound.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xviii. 521 Lang eftir syne ransonyt wes he For tuenty thousand pund to pay.
1545 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 19 Twa hundreith pundis usuall money of this realm.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 283 The Scots of old called 20 English pence a pound, as wee in England call 20 siluer shillings a pound.
1678 in M. Wood Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1950) X. 331 Ane hundered pound Scots gratuitie for his preaching and preying to the prisoners in the tolbuith.
1706 Atholl MSS in Sc. National Dict. at Mart Grant me to have receaved..the soume of One hundered fyftie four pound Scotts money and that as the Martinmas Martsilver.
1790 R. Burns Tam o' Shanter 177 in Poems & Songs (1968) II. 563 That sark she coft for her wee Nannie, Wi' twa pund Scots, ('twas a' her riches).
1814 W. Scott Waverley I. xviii. 279 ‘Donald would not lower a farthing of a thousand punds’—‘The devil!’ ‘Punds Scottish, ye shall understand.’
1887 G. G. Green Gordonhaven ix Jist only lat a chiel hae a hunner powin or twa i' the bank.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 10 Apr. 4/4 Blatter pointed out the significant fact that what was known as a pound Scots was worth one and eight pence.
1982 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 42 449 There are historical errors.., for instance..the failure at times to distinguish between the pound Scots and the pound Sterling.
d. The principal monetary unit of other countries, originally valued at par with the pound sterling, and usually with modifying word indicating the country of origin; spec. (a) the principal monetary unit or former principal monetary unit of several Middle Eastern countries, and Egypt, equal to 100 piastres; (b) the principal monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland (and its predecessors the Irish Free State and Eire), valued at par with the pound sterling until 1979 and replaced by the euro in 1999 (cf. Euro n.2 1a, punt n.7), the currency ceasing to be legal tender after the introduction of the euro coins and banknotes in 2002; (c) the principal monetary unit of Cyprus, equal to 100 cents, replaced by the euro in 2008.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > standards and values of currencies > [noun] > specific monetary units or units of account > specific Irish
pound1857
punt1975
society > trade and finance > money > standards and values of currencies > [noun] > specific monetary units or units of account > other spec.
markc1475
bar1732
rix-dollar1803
Canadian dollar1841
centime1842
pound1857
cent1871
commodity dollar1891
credit1893
shilling1921
centime1942
larin1978
1857 Rep. Commerc. Relations U.S. (U.S. Dept. of State) III. 314 (table) New Turkish coins... Gold pound of 1845.
1889 Whitaker's Almanack 657 Egypt, 100 piastre piece (Egyptian £) £1. 0. 3½.
1905 Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Oct. 15/2 It is let to the present ‘caretaker’ at a few pounds a year.
1929 Jrnl. Compar. Legislation & Internat. Law 3rd Ser. 11 29 The standard unit of value in Saorstát Eireann shall be the Saorstát pound.
1929 Jrnl. Compar. Legislation & Internat. Law 3rd Ser. 11 215 The Palestine pound is substituted for the Egyptian pound and the Turkish pound.
1955 Britannica Bk. of Year 141/1 Cyprus... Monetary unit: Cyprus pound (= £1 sterling).
1975 Times 25 Nov. 7/1 The Israeli pound is officially fixed at seven to the dollar.
1978 Observer 17 Dec. 2/2 The Irish Government's decision to join the European Monetary System and break the link between Ireland's pound (now the punt) and Sterling came at the end of 10 days of hectic negotiations.
1998 Middle East Rep. No. 209. 4/2 Throughout 1992, the pound's value fluctuated wildly in the wake of the Lebanese central bank's decision to reduce its support for the currency.
2005 Irish Independent (Nexis) 24 June Cyprus currently operates on the Cypriot pound which is almost twice the value of the euro.
e. U.S. slang. Five dollars; a five-dollar note. Now rare.Probably with reference to the fact that from the early 19th to the early 20th cent., the exchange rate was approximately five dollars to the pound sterling.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > foreign banknotes > [noun] > U.S. > five-dollar bill
V-note1837
V-spot1838
finnip1839
fiver1843
five-spot1896
fin1925
pound1928
1863 Battle-fields of South 101 A couple of chickens could not be had for less than 5 dollars (1/).]
1928 N.Y. Times Mag. 11 Nov. 21/3 A pound in the taxi driver's language is $5.
1935 J. Hargan Gloss. Prison Lang. 6 Pound, a five dollar bill.
1950 New Yorker 25 Feb. 76 A pound off of thirty-four-fifty would still leave twenty-nine-fifty.
1974 G. Radano Stories Cops only tell Each Other 117 He mentally jeered at the absurdity of offering a Narco a pound. ‘A hundred? A thousand?' What’s five dollars compared to that?
†3. = pounder n.4 1a. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > guns by weight of shot
pounder1647
pound1759
long twelve1781
1759 Adm. Holmes in Naval Chron. 24 119 One carrying a 24-pound and the other a 9-pound.

Phrases

P1.
a. in the pound: calculated at so much for each pound.
ΚΠ
a1450–1500 ( Libel Eng. Policy (1926) 416 (MED) iiij penyes losse in the noble rounde, That is, xij penyes in the golden pounde.
1576 G. Whetstone Rocke of Regard iv. 59 For them three halfpence in the pound, Your actions yeald thus much, Which trifle for your ease to giue, Your worship neede not grutch.
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 9 Where was graunted to the King of all men's goodes 6d. in the pownde.
1644 D. Featley Gentle Lash 11 He pressed hard for 2 s. 9 d. in the pound of his parishioners, untill it came neere the commencing of a suit at law to prevent him.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. viii. 325 A new duty from 6d. to 1s. in the pound..imposed..on every dwelling-house inhabited.
1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle xviii. 299 The great firm of Catchflat and Company figured in the Gazette, and paid sixpence in the pound.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 20 Feb. 8/1 It is proposed to ask the shareholders..to contribute 6d. in the pound towards an investigation fund.
1945 D. Wheatley Man who missed War i. 13 The income tax payer would have to ante-up quite a bit more in the pound.
1994 Guardian 3 Sept. 36/4 The house ‘edge’ on ‘single-zero’ UK roulette (the best odds for the punter in the world) takes an average 2.7p in the pound.
b. pound for pound (also †pound and pound): one pound for another, at the same rate.
ΚΠ
?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors Contents sig. A2v That all creditors may haue pownd and pownd alyke.
1600 Looke about You sig. lv He..can spend pound for pound With thee yfaith, wert richer then thou art.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. ix. iv. 66 Begin who will, I'll be bound to go on with him, pound for pound, or pence for pence.
1835 Times 16 Oct. 7/2 Pound for pound, the amount of the currency previous to the Restriction Act was greater by 13,000,000l.
1897 New Eng. Mag. Dec. 476/2 No man can be voted upon..if he has failed to pay his debts pound for pound.
1995 Which? Tax Saving Guide 39/1 Anything you pay towards the purchase price of the car or its accessories..will reduce the ‘price’ of the car for tax purposes, pound for pound.
†c. at pound = in the pound at Phrases 1a. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1611 in Quarter Sessions Rec. (N. Riding Rec. Soc.) (1884) I. 209 John Raynson..using the trade of usurie, taking foure shillinges at pound.
P2. pounds, shillings, and pence: (a) money, financial matters; (b) attributive monetary, financial; (in extended use) practical, matter-of-fact.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > [adjective]
pecunial1516
pecuniary1612
denariate1632
pounds, shillings, and pence?1650
monetary1838
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > lack of imagination > [adjective]
positive1594
literal1633
unprojecting1647
pounds, shillings, and pence?1650
matter of fact1712
unvisionary1794
unimaginative1814
literalist1838
literal-mindeda1849
visionless1856
realistic1862
terre-à-terre1888
pragmatical1896
illusionless1897
cookie cutter1922
down to earth1922
?1650 T. Jordan Claraphil & Clarinda sig. Cv And cast Account well, which, in vulgar sence, Is to dispose your Pounds, Shillings, and Pence.
1774 G. Colman Man of Business i. 9 What! do you pretend to joke too? Pounds, shillings, and pence—you had best stick to that, old gentleman.
1829 R. Southey Sir Thomas More II. 123 Let him calculate whether he and they would have been gainers, even in this low, pounds-shillings-and-pence point of view.
1870 C. Dickens Edwin Drood ix. 58 Life is pounds, shillings, and pence.
1900 Daily News 15 May 3/1 We claim to be a practical people, a pounds-shillings-and-pence people.
1943 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 27 Mar. 4/3 Mr. Churchill disagreed with a friend whom he quoted as saying that in planning for the future pounds, shillings and pence meant nothing.
1984 Guardian (Nexis) 1 Aug. The motive for the murders was money... ‘It comes down to pounds, shillings, and pence.’
2005 Bristol Evening Post (Nexis) 21 Apr. 62 The Colt CZT..severely undercuts them in the pounds, shillings and pence department.
P3. in the pound seats (occasionally seat): (figurative) in a very favourable position or situation.In quot. 1946 referring to expensive seats affording a good view.
ΚΠ
1946 E. James Unforgettable Country Folk i. 38 I was fairly tall, and just tall enough to get a full view... I bent down, took his hand, and he, too, was ‘in the pound seats’, standing with toes on the edge of the barrel.]
1976 Deb. Transkei Legisl. Assembly 229/2 As someone put it, a country which produces food is in the pound seats and is assured of a market everywhere.
1978 G. M. Philip & K. L. Williams Austral. Min. Energy Resources ii. 46/1 The edge in formal education and discipline given to the nation which had produced Kant and Hegel was obviously going to put them ‘in the pound seats’ economically and politically.
1985 Guardian 28 May 27 Middlesex were able to increase their overnight lead..to 207... Assuming fine weather today, this puts them, as they say, in the pound seats.
1998 Daily Tel. 21 Sept. 27/5 The pound has had plenty of practice in losing its value... If that were all it took, we and our economy would be in the pound seats, as they used to be called when a pound still bought something worth having.
2005 R. Aird Stealth's Odyssey xl. 255 Russia would be in the pound seat in the Middle East.
2012 F. du Toit in A. J. van der Walt Theories Social & Econ. Justice 56 For ‘court theologians’ whose interests are represented by those in the pound seats, the temptation to become defenders of the status quo often results in compromised, muted social critique.

Compounds

C1. attributive.
a. With the sense ‘of a pound in weight’.
pound butter n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > butter > [noun] > types of butter
May-butter?a1425
clarified butter1562
pot-butter1616
manteca1622
grass butter1648
green butter1654
drawn butter1661
cacao butter1662
ghee1665
rowen1673
ruskin1679
orange butter1696
whey-buttera1722
rowen butter1725
fairy butter1747
grease1788
Cambridge butter1830
stubble-butter1856
black jack1858
maître d'hôtel butter1861
Normandy butter1868
creamery butter1881
pound butter1888
renovated butter1888
samn1888
process butter1898
pool butter1940
garlic butter1942
yak butter1962
Normandy1973
cannabutter1994
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Pound-butter, butter made up in pats of a pound each, as distinguished from..butter..in bulk.
b. With the sense ‘sold (loose) by the pound’.
pound beads n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > goods for bartering > with undeveloped peoples > specific
stroud1683
pound beads1826
1826 Wilmingtonian & Delaware Advertiser 29 June (advt.) Wanted immediately... Pipes, pound beads, American cottons.
1863 R. Burton in Anthropol. Rev. May 46 White ‘pound-beads’—..so called because one pound is equal to one dollar.
1962 Man 62 104/1 ‘Pound beads’..are also described as round but ‘heavier’ than the ‘knitting beads’.
pound pins n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > pin or peg > other types of pin or peg
shackle-pin1446
corking-pin?1690
drawing pin1812
eye ring1836
pound pins1838
coupling-pin1874
1838 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 17 July 1/5 (advt.) Low price Tea Trays,..Paper and pound Pins, Scissors, [etc.].
1856 J. P. Hambleton Biogr. Sketch Henry A. Wise p. xi In pinning her child's dress with one of the English pound pins in her mouth, she inhaled it into her lungs and was killed.
1886 Folk-Lore Jrnl. 4 126 Pins—not the well-made ones sold in papers, but clumsy things with wire heads—‘pound-pins’.
1923 Evening State Jrnl. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 18 Oct. 5 (advt.) Dressmakers Pound Pins, ½ pound box, 59c.
† pound yarn n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1749 R. Cox Let. shewing Method to establish Linen-manuf. 35 The Alteration [in quality] must be expected to be much greater in future Times; as the reel'd Yarn increases and the Pound-Yarn decreases.
1795 Times 23 Apr. 1/3 1050lb. of White Pound Yarn.
C2.
pound brush n. a large paintbrush.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > brush > types of
pencila1350
calaber pencil1583
washing-brush1585
softener1756
hair-pencil1763
camel('s) hair pencil1771
pound brush1780
dabberc1790
varnishing brush1825
writer1825
red sable1859
sweetener1859
varnish brush1859
fitch1873
sable-brush1873
wash-brush1873
Poona brush1875
hake1882
rigger1883
airbrush1884
liner1886
sable1891
stippler1891
aerograph1898
mop brush1904
filbert brush1950
1780 J. O'Keeffe Tony Lumpkin in Town ii. 20 Tim, that was a dash with the pound brush!
1830 G. Colman Random Rec. I. ii. 35 My pictures are only sketches, and dabs of the pound-brush.
1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 106/1 The large round brush, called the pound brush, and a smaller one called the tool, are those mostly used in plain work.
1999 Electr. World (Nexis) Sept.–Oct. 37 Painters use 2½–3-in. oval pound brushes.
pound coin n. a coin worth one pound sterling; (now) one introduced in the United Kingdom on 21 April 1983 and subsequently superseding the pound note; also written £1 coin.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > coin of twenty shillings
goldfinch1602
Harry sovereign1615
piece1631
jingle-boya1640
yellow boy1654
quid1661
marigold1663
broad-piece1678
pound piecea1715
gold penny1736
sovereign1817
dragon1827
sov1829
chip?1836
couter1846
thick 'un1848
monarch1851
James1858
skiv1858
Victoria1870
goblin1887
red one1890
Jimmy1899
quidlet1902
Jimmy O'Goblin1931
pound coin1931
1931 Amer. Speech 6 393 [English underworld slang] Nicker—One pound coin.
1980 Times 18 July 2/5 London Transport yesterday called for a £1 coin to cut down queues at ticket machines.
2000 N. Griffiths Grits (2001) 411 He..stuffs a handful of pound coins in the jukebox.
pound-cost averaging n. British Stock Market. the theory that when buying shares in a company for a fixed sum at regular intervals over a period of time, the average price paid for these shares will be lower than the arithmetic average of the market price on the dates of purchase.
ΚΠ
1962 Times 29 Dec. 12/1 The ideal way for a prospective investor to build up a holding of equities is to invest a fixed sum of money at regular intervals and so to get the benefit of ‘pound cost averaging’.
1998 E. Bignell Which? Way to save & Invest (ed. 10) xvii. 291 Pound-cost averaging is sometimes cited as being one advantage of a regular savings plan.
pound day n. British (now historical) a day on which donations of groceries weighing one pound each are sold to raise money for a good cause.
ΚΠ
1889 Clerks Guernsey News 10 May 5/1 The Pound Day at the Victoria Cottage Hospital..was a great success, the appeal for a pound weight of some kind of grocery from each donor being very..widely responded to.
1909 Daily Chron. 26 Jan. 6/5 On ‘Pound-days’,..persons were invited to bring a pound of anything—a pound of dripping, a pound of sugar, or a pound of gold.
1979 M. Campion Making of Hospice xii. 57 In the meantime, pound days, sales of work, concerts and charity sermons continued to finance the work.
2004 Sussex Express (Nexis) 4 Mar. Perhaps it was these events that led to the idea of Seaford's Pound Days.
pound-force n. (plural pounds-force) a unit of force equal to the weight of a mass of one pound avoirdupois, esp. under standard gravity (when it is equivalent to approx. 4.45 newtons); abbreviated lbf.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > units of force
pound-weight1824
pound-force1865
gram weight1871
dyne1873
kilodyne1873
poundal1875
Gramme1884
Newton1904
kilogram force1905
gram force1909
kip1915
N1951
lbf1961
ounce-force1961
ton-force1961
1865 N. Arnott Elements Physics (ed. 6) 104 If the weight rise half an inch only, while the handle of the winch describes a circle of fifty inches, one pound force at the winch would balance one hundred pounds at d.
1949 W. Ernst Oil Hydraul. Power i. 2 The pound force imparts 32·174 feet per sec2 to the pound mass.
1977 Daily Tel. 16 Dec. 2/3 As Britain moves towards complete metrication motorists will have to get used to checking their car tyre pressures in atmospheric bars instead of pounds force per square inch.
† pound nail n. Obsolete a type of large nail (see quot. 1728).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > nail > with square shank
pound nail1703
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 229 Pound nails, v. Nails.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Nails Pound Nails, are four-square in the Shank; much used in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, tho' scarce elsewhere, except for paling.
1847 Times 24 July 11/6 The property consists of about 200 bags of nails, cut, lath, clasp, rose, patent and other pound nails.
pound note n. a banknote worth one pound, esp. one pound sterling; cf. pound coin n. (pound notes are now only issued in the United Kingdom by the Scottish banks).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > English banknotes > [noun] > one-pound note
poundOE
note1775
pound note1805
one-pounder1811
one1846
jim1906
Bradbury1917
Fisher1922
oncer1931
sheet1937
iron man1938
saucepan lid1951
single1961
1805 A. A. Opie Adeline Mowbray II. iv. 168 The next post brought a letter..from his wife; it..contained three pound-notes.
1901 W. B. Yeats Let. 23 Aug. (1994) III. 111 I left a one pound note in the pocket in the lid of the leather despatch box..you gave me to keep money in.
2003 Sunday Tribune (Ireland) (Nexis) 11 May 10 Her grandfather..was a former governor of the Bank of Ireland—his signature used to grace the old pound notes.
pound-noteish adj. (also pound-notish) British slang affected, pompous.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > pomposity > [adjective]
pompousc1375
buggish1536
biga1568
bug1567
braving1600
large1608
farceda1616
budge1637
bulky1672
fastuose1674
portentous1805
highfalutin1839
heavy1849
portentious1859
ventose1867
falutin1921
pound-noteish1936
pomposo1960
stuffed-shirted1977
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid vi. 63 Her pound-noteish voice both annoyed and amused the Gilt Kid.
1965 W. H. Auden About House (1966) 28 When we get pound-noteish..send us some deflating Image.
1993 Past & Present 1 iii. 168/3 With..a menu suitable for the Lord High Admiral rather than Jolly Jack Tar, the whole thing has become a bit pound-notish.
pound party n. U.S. (originally) a party to which each guest brings a pound of groceries, etc., either to be given to the host, or to be consumed at the party; (now) a party to which each guest brings a pound of something to be auctioned or otherwise sold for charity.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > fund-raising events > [noun] > others
box supper1851
friendly lead1856
pound party1869
American tea1915
American supper1916
society > leisure > social event > social gathering > party > [noun] > other parties
play-party1796
tail1837
surprise-party1840
street party1845
costume party1850
pound party1869
all-nighter1870
neighbourhood party1870
simcha1874
ceilidh1875
studio party1875
pounding1883
house party1885
private function1888
shower1893
kitchen shower1896
kitchen evening1902
bottle party1903
pyjama party1910
block party1919
house party1923
after-party1943
slumber party1949
office party1950
freeload1952
hukilau1954
BYOB1959
pot party1959
bush party1962
BYO1965
wrap party1978
bop1982
warehouse party1988
rave1989
1869 Brooklyn Daily Eagle 15 Feb. 1/8 ‘Pound parties’ are the latest. Those invited are expected to contribute one pound at least of something to eat.
1953 J. M. Brewer Word on Brazos 17 Dey hab poun' paa'ties whar evuhbody brung a poun' o' victuals to de pastuh evuh mont'.
2005 Buffalo (N.Y.) News (Nexis) 17 Mar. c5 Members are asked to gift wrap a pound of anything for a ‘pound party’ as a fund-raiser.
pound pear n. now rare any of various large, late-ripening varieties of cooking pear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of
calewey1377
honey peara1400
pome-pear1440
pome-wardena1513
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
worry pear1562
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
pound pear1585
poppering1597
wood of Jerusalem1597
muscadine1598
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
mollart1600
roset1600
wax pear1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
Venerian pear1601
musk pear1611
rose pear1611
pusill1615
Christian1629
nutmeg1629
rolling pear1629
surreine1629
sweater1629
amber pear1638
Venus-pear1648
horse-pear1657
Martin1658
russet1658
rousselet1660
diego1664
frith-pear1664
maudlin1664
Messire Jean1664
primate1664
sovereign1664
spindle-pear1664
stopple-pear1664
sugar-pear1664
virgin1664
Windsor pear1664
violet-pear1666
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
squash pear1676
rose1678
Longueville1681
maiden-heart1685
ambrette1686
vermilion1691
admiral1693
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
pounder pear1697
vine-pear1704
amadot1706
marchioness1706
marquise1706
Margaret1707
short-neck1707
musk1708
burree1719
marquis1728
union pear1728
Doyenne pear1731
Magdalene1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
Monsieur Jean1736
muscadella1736
swan's egg1736
chaumontel1755
St Michael's pear1796
Williams1807
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
Bartlett1828
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
snow-pear1860
Comice1866
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
snowy pear1884
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 99/1 Poire de bon Chrestien, poire de liure,..a pound-peare.
a1667 A. Cowley Several Disc. by Way of Ess., Verse & Prose 121 in Wks. (1668) He would eat nothing but what was great, nor touch any Fruit but Horse-Plums and Pound-Pears.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Pear The pound-pear, or black-pear of Worcester.
1823 D. Douglas Jrnl. 25 Sept. (1914) 16 He had only two different pears and they were both bad: one was large, which I think is called pound pear.
1881 G. Vanderbilt Social Hist. Flatbush (1899) 279 The last of the crop was gathered in October or November; this late variety was called the ‘pound pear’, from its great size.
1992 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 8 May Mr Mason..is..one of a handful of fruitgrowers still growing the giant pears, known because of their weight as pound pears.
pound piece n. a piece of money worth a pound; a pound coin.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > coin of twenty shillings
goldfinch1602
Harry sovereign1615
piece1631
jingle-boya1640
yellow boy1654
quid1661
marigold1663
broad-piece1678
pound piecea1715
gold penny1736
sovereign1817
dragon1827
sov1829
chip?1836
couter1846
thick 'un1848
monarch1851
James1858
skiv1858
Victoria1870
goblin1887
red one1890
Jimmy1899
quidlet1902
Jimmy O'Goblin1931
pound coin1931
a1715 G. Hickes Discourses (1726) xi. 329 A penny..is as lawful money, as a pound piece.
1889 H. Johnston Chron. Glenbuckie xxii. 261 There are twenty gouden pound-pieces.
1916 Mod. Philol. 14 115 A coin, as a piece of eight, pound-piece, crown-piece.
2005 North Devon Jrnl. (Nexis) 14 Apr. 57 Collect your pennies, two, five, ten, 20, 50 and even pound pieces ready for St George's Day on April 23.
pound-pint n. rare a measure of capacity equal to that of a pound of water (approx. 0.8 imperial pints); cf. sense 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > liquid measure of capacity > specific units of liquid measure
cowl1467
bushel1483
lagen1570
homerkin1662
litron1725
pound-pint1901
1901 E. Nicholson in Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 283/1 Our bushel was originally the measure containing a quantity of wheat equal to the weight of a cubic foot of water at ordinary temperature, 62·3 lb., and therefore, on the pound-pint system, containing the same number of pints of wheat.
1951 Sci. Monthly Jan. 15/2 By replacing our present wine pint and grain pint with such a pound-pint, and fitting it into the framework of the imperial gallon and British bushel, we could achieve a capacity plan having both logic and practicality.
pound rate n. now historical a property tax or tithe expressed as a proportion of each pound of the assessed value of the property; cf. rate n.1 6c.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > local or municipal taxes or dues > [noun] > rates > of so much in the pound
pound rate1651
pound rent1651
1651 R. Culmer Ministers Hue & Cry 10 I have heard, that if a Pound-rate be set on Revenues in lieu of Tythes, that Landlords will abate that rate to the Tenant.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 404 125 l. raised by a pound-rate, at 4 d. in the pound.
1808 S. Toller Treat. Law Tithes L. 151 Houses in London pay an annual pound-rate in the name of tithes by virtue of an arbitration or decree confirmed by act of parliament.
1985 Eng. Hist. Rev. 100 301 The land tax was based upon consent and not force, and the government preferred to take the guaranteed income it provided rather than endanger this principle by attempting to turn it into a real pound-rate tax.
1994 M. J. Braddick Parl. Taxation 17th Cent. Eng. 142 There was no way of ascertaining the true geographical distribution of wealth. The alternative was a pound rate enforced by direct valuation, but this was administratively and politically impossible.
pound rent n. now historical and rare = pound rate n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > local or municipal taxes or dues > [noun] > rates > of so much in the pound
pound rate1651
pound rent1651
1651 R. Culmer Ministers Hue & Cry 10 Landlords will abate that rate to the Tenant, and in their new Leases continue the old rent, with the abatement of the Pound rent.
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin iv. 293 Item, twice fifty more Per ann. in Pound-Rents!
1771 Act for Dividing & Inclosing Common Fen belonging to Boston West 5 The said Commissioners..shall set out and allot the Residue of the said Common Fen..according to the value of the respective Pound Rents of the same.
1966 Past & Present No. 35. 97 Orders for the change from yardland to pound rent payments, signifying more equitable direct assessments.., filled the order books from 1649 to 1660.
† pound right n. Obsolete rare (perhaps) the right to the amount of moorland which went with a pound-land; (perhaps) a right to a part of a moor valued at a pound.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > [noun] > rights of occupying ground or land > specific right to moorland
pound right1586
1586 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 128 Two lyttell croftes..called tenter croftes, with the churche yearde of Darnton, and one pownderight of Branson moore.
† pound rocket n. Obsolete a rocket with a conventional weight of one pound.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > rocket
pound rocket1752
Congreve1809
rocket1915
retro-rocket1948
1752 Philos. Trans. 1749–50 (Royal Soc.) 46 133 Then I found that several single Pound Rockets went to various heights between 450 and 500 yards.
1852 T. Kentish Treat. Box Instruments 220 Required diameter of a pound rocket.—Ans. 1.67 in.
1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 124/1 A pound rocket will admit a leaden bullet that weighs a pound.
pound royal n. a variety of dessert apple, latterly chiefly grown in the United States.
ΚΠ
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole iii. xix. 587 The pound Royall is a very great apple.
1857 E. J. Hooper Western Fruit Bk. 116 Ohio Apples... Early Chandler, Summer Sweet (or High Topped Sweet), Pound Royal, of Marietta (Dyer), and Red Streak.
2000 E. F. Palencia in S. L. Ballard & P. L. Hudson Listen Here (2003) 476 That's a Pound Royal apple tree. You don't hardly ever hear of Pound Royals anymore.
† pound-velo n. Obsolete rare a unit of momentum equal to the momentum of a body of mass 1 pound moving with a velocity of 1 foot per second (approx. 0.138 kgms−1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > dynamics > [noun] > speed or direction as vector quality > unit of momentum
pound-velo1887
1887 J. B. Lock Dynamics 31 We shall choose as our unit mass-velocity that of a particle of 1 lb. moving with 1 velo. We shall call this unit a pound-velo.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

poundn.2

Brit. /paʊnd/, U.S. /paʊnd/
Forms: early Middle English pund, early Middle English punde, Middle English pond, Middle English ponde, Middle English ponndys (plural, transmission error), Middle English poonde, Middle English poynde (Lincolnshire), Middle English–1500s pounde, Middle English–1600s pownde, 1500s–1600s (1700s– English regional) pownd, 1500s– pound; English regional (Yorkshire) 1900s– poun, 1900s– pown; also Scottish pre-1700 pond, pre-1700 pownd, pre-1700 punde, pre-1700 pvnd, pre-1700 pwnd, pre-1700 (1700s– Shetland and Orkney) pund, 1800s poon (southern), 1800s pun (southern).
Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: English *pund.
Etymology: Apparently the reflex of an unattested Old English *pund, of unknown origin. Anglo-Norman ponde , punde pen, enclosure (late 14th cent. or earlier) and post-classical Latin pondum , pundum , in same sense (from 1274 in British sources) are < Middle English. Compare (from the same base) pend n.1, pind v.Some early Middle English examples of pond , ponde probably simply show o as a spelling for u before n in order to reduce confusion of minim strokes; later Middle English forms with o perhaps represent a shortening of lengthened ū . In sense 4 pond has become the usual form in standard English (see pond n.), and all examples of this form in this sense are treated at that entry. Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. records the word pound in sense ‘body of still water’ in use in Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire; Surv. Eng. Dial. records the word in this sense from Yorkshire and Northumberland. The two forms are used indifferently in standard English in sense 4(b) in reference to canals. It is possible that some Older Scots examples (in branch I.) of the forms punde , ponde (the latter unattested as such, but perhaps underlying plural forms like pondis ) may in fact represent spellings of poind n., given the exact equivalence of the spellings ui , oi and u..e , o..e in Older Scots (compare discussion at poind v.). Attested earlier in place names, as Pondestoch (1086; now Poundstock, Cornwall). Also attested early in surnames, as Levericus de Stocepunda (1209); compare also quot. 1261 at sense 1a.
I. An enclosure, and related uses.
1.
a. Originally: an enclosure maintained by authority, for detaining stray or trespassing cattle, or for keeping distrained cattle or goods until redeemed; a pinfold. Now usually: an enclosure where stray animals, esp. dogs, may be officially taken and kept until claimed by their owners upon payment of a release fee.The right to impound stray cattle still exists, but in Great Britain the impounder can put the animals in his or her own stable or field, so that public pounds have become unnecessary.Recorded earliest in poundfold (see α forms at pinfold n.), pound-breach n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal enclosure or house general > [noun] > enclosure > fold or pen > pound
pinfolda1170
penfold1382
pounda1425
pound open1530
pound close1567
poind1643
green yard1690
flat-house1698
a1170 (?OE) Bounds (Sawyer 689) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Abingdon Abbey, Pt. 2 (2001) 365 Of þam pytte on haccan pund fald, of haccan pund falde oþ eft on þæt efer fearn.
c1210 ( Leges Hen. I xl. §1 in L. J. Downer Leges Henrici Primi (1972) 144 Pundbreche, id est infractura partici [read parrici]... Pundbreche fit pluribus modis, emissione, euocatione, receptione, excussione.
1227 ( Bounds (Sawyer 1033) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 208 Þannon on pundfald.
1261 in A. Mawer & F. M. Stenton Place-names Sussex (1929) I. 188 William de la Punde.
a1425 (a1396) R. Maidstone Paraphr. Seven Penitential Psalms (BL Add. 39574) 749 in M. Day Wheatley MS (1921) 50 (MED) Thou hast hem pynned in a pounde, Wiþ-oute warde of wouȝ or walle.
1530 St. German's Secunde Dyaloge Doctour & Student xxvii. f. lxxviv The owner may lawfully gyue the beestes mete & drynke whyle they be in pounde.
1633 Plymouth Laws 34 Every Cunstablericke [shall] have a sufficient pound to impound cattle that shall transgresse any such orders as are or shalbe made.
1709 in Early Rec. Town of Providence (Rhode Island) (1895) VIII. 9 There being no Pound in the Towne.
1773 O. Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer iv. 77 I'd sooner leave my horse in a pound.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 88 While pinders, that such chances look, Drive his rambling cows to pound.
1846 H. W. Longfellow Pegasus in Pound v The wise men, in their wisdom, Put him straightway into pound.
1912 J. Sandilands Western Canad. Dict. & Phrase-bk. Pound, the place in which stray horses, cattle, etc. are housed until claimed or sold by the authorities.
1961 Times 4 Sept. 7/2 Residents in the vicinity of Gillingham police station [wish] to get the noise made by the dogs in the police pound reduced.
1990 Arizona Daily Star 14 Mar. b2/1 A bill that would require sterilization of all dogs and cats adopted from animal shelters or pounds.
1991 San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News 24 Apr. a10/1 Despite the..dog tag around his neck, he wound up in the county pound and was euthanized 10 days later.
b. pound close n. (also pound covert) a pound to which the owner of impounded animals (or occasionally goods) is not allowed access. pound open n. (also pound overt) a pound which is not roofed, and to which the owner is allowed access to feed the animals held there. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal enclosure or house general > [noun] > enclosure > fold or pen > pound
pinfolda1170
penfold1382
pounda1425
pound open1530
pound close1567
poind1643
green yard1690
flat-house1698
1530 St. German's Secunde Dyaloge Doctour & Student xxvii. f. lxxviv He that..hath the hurte may take the beestes as a dystresse and put theym in a pounde ouert.
1567 Expos. Termes Lawes (1579) 157 b Poundes are in two sorts, the one pounds open, the other pounds close... Pound Close is such a place, where the owner of the distresse may not come to geue them meat and drinke.
1658 E. Leigh Philol. Comm. (ed. 2) 75 He must impound them [sc. the stolen goods] in a house or other Pound covert.
1718 Methodical Treat. Replevins, Distresses, Avowries, &c. 55 If one takes a Horse..and puts it in Pound Overt, and the Horse leaps three times over the Pound, [etc.].
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. i. 13 If a live distress, of animals, be impounded in a common pound overt, the owner must take notice of it at his peril.
1872 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 732/1 There was a difference between pound overt, or common pound, and pound covert, or close pound; in the former case, the owner of the beasts could go and feed and water his cattle while impounded, and it was his duty to do so; but not in the latter case.
1935 Times 28 Jan. 8/3 Cattle pounds. There is a pound close beside the church at Wiston..in Pembrokeshire.
c. An enclosure for sheltering or accommodating sheep, cattle, etc. Also: an enclosure in which wild animals are captured.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal enclosure or house general > [noun] > enclosure > fold or pen
folda700
lockeOE
pen1227
foldingc1440
pend1542
cub1548
hull1570
corral1582
boolya1599
ree1674
crew1681
reeve1720
stell1766
pound1779
kraal1796
fank1812
poundage1866
forcing-yard1890
the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > enclosure
pound1877
1779 G. Cartwright Jrnl. 15 May (1792) II. 439 After breakfast I took a walk to the South-west Marshes, to view a deer-path... I found it a very good one, and observed, that a pound for taking deer alive might be erected on it.
1780 A. Young Tour Ireland (Dublin ed.) I. 340 Mr. Irwin spreads it in his pound..for cattle to tread on.
1846 G. B. McClellan Mexican War Diary Nov. (1917) 10 To the left of the sand hills in front are a number of wagons parked, to the left of them a pound containing about 200 mules.
1877 J. A. Allen Amer. Bisons 472 The rushing of a herd over a precipice or into a pound prepared especially to entrap them.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 644/1 These by-laws also provide for water-supply to the slaughter-house for cleansing, and to the pounds for the use of the animals.
1974 J. Mannion Irish Settlement in Eastern Canada 68 After the milking each evening cows were folded in a ‘pound’ by the farmstead for the night.
2000 E.A. Markham Grandmother's Last Will &Testament in C. Newland & K. Sesay IC3 127 We like the idea of the plump, well-dressed fellow..descending from his official car..to feed the pigs in the animal pound last thing at night.
d. A place in which vehicles impounded by the police or other authorities are kept until they are collected by their owners.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [noun] > traffic control > removal of illegally parked vehicle > enclosure for impounded vehicles
pound1970
1970 P. Laurie Scotl. Yard iii. 75 Civilian cars that have been stolen or in accidents..stand in a pound nearby.
1974 Times 18 Feb. 17 I'm going to sell my car... No more police towing [it]..to a car pound.
1990 T. Wood in P. Sellers Cold Blood III 132 CIB can work on the car in the pound.
1993 Bella 29 Sept. 50/1 It then took him two hours to find the pound his car had been taken to by private towaway company Arcade Motors.
†2.
a. Chiefly Scottish. An animal or other possession seized in distraint. Also: an animal seized as plunder. Cf. poind n. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stealing animals > [noun] > cattle-raiding or rustling > instance of
pound1386
spreath1773
1386 in D. Macpherson et al. Rotuli Scotiae (1819) II. 86/1 That nane pundys sal be tane of nouther syde for na manere of det ne trespasse.
c1430 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1844) I. 27/2 Gif the uplandis man..will nocht borow his punde and it dee for hungyr [etc.].
1433 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1835) IV. 170 (MED) Þe said subgittes of Scotland..have made upon þe Kinges subgittes many and divers rodes and taken many and sundry pondes, prayes, & prisoners and had þeim into Scotland as þough it were open werre.
1498 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Royal Burgh of Lanark (1893) 10 John Fischar, serjand, to tak a pund of the said Andro and lat it to borch, and sommond him.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) ix. ii. 12 A cumpany gat he And rade in Ingland, for to ta A pownd, and swne it hapnyd sa That he of catale gat a pray.
1571 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Royal Burgh of Lanark (1893) 56 Anentis the takin and brekin of David Blakeis duris and takin and pressing of his pundis be Thomas Gray, ballie, and his offeceres.
1667 in W. Cramond Church of Fordyce (1886) 47 John Hiltoun not paying tymously, is pounded in eight elne of harne. He assigns his pund to the session, who make two sackcloathes of it.
1815 J. Gerrond Poems 87 Poor Saunders hears of him no more Till beagles drive their poons, Aff's ground some day.
1845 New Statist. Acct. Scotl. IV. 284 The proprietor in order to get up arrears of rent, ‘drave the pun’, in other words carried off the hypothecated stock.
b. An act or right of impounding (see poind n.). Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1464 Rolls of Parl. V. 540/2 Provided that this Acte..extende not..to John Acton..of th' Office of Raungeourship of Chaspell..with Poundes, Waifes, Strayes.
3. In extended use: a place of confinement; a place from which escape is difficult; spec. a prison, esp. (in earlier use) one for debtors. Now U.S. slang and rare. Cf. Lob's pound n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > difficult state of things > predicament or straits > from which it is difficult to be extricated
pounda1500
quavemire1530
fang1535
quamire1555
pit1577
quagmire1577
bog1614
hobble1775
vortex1779
quag1842
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > for debtors
pounda1500
pledge chamber1577
hell1598
pledge-house1634
sponging-house1699
repository1785
jankers1916
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclosing or confining > [noun] > place of enclosure or confinement
pounda1500
confine1603
seraglioa1660
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [noun] > place of confinement
lockOE
prisona1200
jailc1400
pinfoldc1400
mewa1425
pounda1500
coop1579
confine1603
stockade1865
monkey house1910
a1500 (?c1378) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 421 (MED) Pride of men of þe world, þat wolen make hem siche poondis, is an oþer rote of consense aȝenus crist.
1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre xix, in Posies sig. Hiii Penne vp thy pleasure in Repentance poundes.
1616 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) ii. i, in Wks. I. 20 An' hee thinke to bee relieu'd by me, when he is got into one o' your citie pounds, the Counters.
1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. 26 The Enemy being by this means brought into a Pound.
1727 J. Swift Horace Imitated in J. Swift Misc. Last Vol. iii. 35 I hurry me in haste away, Not thinking it is levee-day; And find his honour in a pound, Hemm'd by a triple circle round.
1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone vii. 125 The grassy rock-encircled Pound In which the Creature first was found.
1887 R. Jefferies Amaryllis at Fair xxiv. 183 He's getting into a pound, he really is.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Pound,..3. A position from which escape seems difficult, particularly in hunting.
1978 W. Diehl Sharky's Machine 100 She's been nailed so much she oughta be payin' rent down at the pound.
II. A body of water, and related uses.
4. Now chiefly English regional. (a) A body of still water, usually of artificial formation; a pond; cf. pond n. 1a, 1c. (b) A body of water confined by a dam or similar structure; (now esp.) the reach of a canal above a lock (in which sense pond and pound are used synonymously; cf. pond n. 3).Recorded earliest in poundpenny n. at Compounds.Examples of the form pond are treated at pond n.; see etymological note.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pond > [noun]
pound1248
pond1287
piscinaa1398
piscinea1400
stewc1440
dike1788
pondlet1839
mardle1866
tank1898
suck-hole1909
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > artificially confined water
weirc897
dama1340
millpond1371
pound1535
pent1587
water-shut1613
tumbling-bay1724
backwater1788
pen pond1904
1248 in F. J. Baigent Coll. Rec. & Documents Crondal (1891) 51 Reddit compotum de xlv li. vj s. ix d. ob. qu. de toto redditu assisæ in manerio de Crundalle cum pundpani.
c1400 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Tiber.) f. 103 Men..hadde al maner bestes in kepyng yn huyues, yn layes, yn fyschweres & poundes [a1387 J. Trevisa transl. pondes; L. vivaria].
c1450 in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 228 Hit is a shrewde pole, pounde, or a welle, That drownythe the dowghty.
c1450 (c1415) in W. O. Ross Middle Eng. Serm. (1940) 288 (MED) Ihesu..stode be-side þe watur of Genazereth and sawe too shippes stonde by-side þe pownde.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xix. B All the poundes of Egipte, all the policie of their Moates & diches shal come to naught.
1684 G. Meriton Praise Yorks. Ale 132 Our awd meer is slidden into th' pownd.
1805 Z. Allnutt Consider. on Navigation Thames 29 So many more Pounds and moveable Weirs as were found necessary might be erected.
1891 V. C. Cotes Two Girls on Barge 46 First a pound and then a lock,..‘pound’ being a canal definition of the level reaches that lie between the locks.
a1898 E. Smith MS Coll. Warwicks. Words (E.D.D.) Where there is a separate pool, the water above the dam is called either the mill-dam or the pound.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 98/1 He toomel'd intiv his lily-pown.
1968 D. D. Gladwin & J. M. White Eng. Canals ii. ii. 23 The Bratch flight on the Staffs & Worcs Canal is a rather curious hybrid where the pounds between the locks are too short for a boat and the flight has to be treated as a staircase.
1986 Waterways World July 32/2 This year we were pleased to see the dredger working in the pound above Kidderminster.
5.
a. A container in which fish are kept once caught, esp. a compartment for stowing fish on board a fishing vessel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > room, locker, or quarters > [noun] > storage room or compartment > for storing catch on fishing boat
well1614
pound1766
1766 J. Banks Diary in A. M. Lysaght J. Banks in Newfoundland & Labrador (1971) 134 [The fish] are then Carried From [the Salt Pile] & the Salt washd out of them in sea water by towing them off from shore in a Kind of float made for that Purpose called by them a Pound.
1809 Naval Chron. 21 21 There are pounds or enclosures made on the deck, for each fisherman to throw in what he catches.
1883 S. Plimsoll in 19th Cent. July 162 The haddocks..are..stowed away in bulk in ‘pound’ (the pounds are like the stalls in a stable, in the hold of the ship).
1975 V. Butler Little Nord Easter 74 First we would hoist the mackerel from the boat to the wharf. Then we would take them in the store and put them in pounds.
1995 Guardian (Nexis) 11 Mar. t28 A quick pull on the cod end clip and the fish tumble into the eight-foot square fish pounds.
†b. A pool of water in which live fish are kept; see quot. 1867. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > [noun] > lagoon
wash1530
lagoon1612
jheel1805
sea-lake1816
haff1859
pound1867
pond1926
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Pound, a lagoon, or space of water, surrounded by reefs and shoals, wherein fish are kept, as at Bermuda.
c. Chiefly U.S. = pound net n. at Compounds; spec. the last compartment of a pound net, in which the fish are finally caught. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > pound net
pound net1856
pound1873
1873 Echo 11 Mar. 2/2 A pound is generally placed on the shallow flats of the bays where fish food is abundant.
1883 F. Day Indian Fish 14 Wicker-work labyrinths..acting like a pound in permitting the fish to enter with the flood, but precluding exit with the ebb.
1986 P. Matthiessen Men's Lives (1988) ii. xi. 143 On every shore were the long silhouettes of pounds, or fish traps.

Compounds

pound-boat n. North American (now chiefly historical) a flat-bottomed centreboard boat used (esp. on the Great Lakes) for carrying fish from pound nets to the shore.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > fishing vessel > [noun] > vessels which store, freeze, or transport fish
well-boat1614
fish-pool1718
sack ship1732
well smack?1758
carrier1825
sale-boat1840
ice boat1846
plunger1860
runner1881
pound-boat1884
run boat1884
fish-carrier1886
smacka1891
shacker1902
Klondiker1926
factory trawler1928
1884 Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 27. 700 Lake Erie pound boat... Their peculiar construction enables them to carry large quantities of fish in shallow water and to lift the bowl of the pounds without upsetting.
1906 Amer. Naturalist 40 359 It [sc. a whale]..was towed with some difficulty by two large power pound-boats to the beach.
1979 Upper Penins. Sunday Times (Escanaba, Mich.) 7 Jan. c3/3 The fishing fleet consisted of seventy steamers, almost 600 sail boats, more than 300 pound boats, and 546 skiffs.
2005 Daily Press (Newport, Va.) (Nexis) 27 Jan. c14 The boat is a replica of the pound boat that was built and used by the local fishermen.
pound fee n. a fee paid to secure the release of cattle or goods from a pound.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > ransom > [noun] > fee for release from pound
poundlanec1280
poundlaw1541
poindlaw1553
poundage1554
pound fee1829
1829 G. Griffin Collegians III. xxxi. 3 Liberating an unruly pig, after payment of pound fees.
1878 A. Aylward Transvaal of To-day (1881) ii. 27 English settlers have been known in a poor neighbourhood to live almost entirely from pound-fees and mileage, earned by continual..intermeddling with their neighbours' herds.
1964 W. Faulkner Hamlet 242 Demand a pound fee on the cow as a stray.
2005 Pueblo (Colorado) Chieftain (Nexis) 6 Apr. The primary changes would be to require rabies vaccination of cats and an increase in pound fees for animals picked up as strays.
† poundlose n. Obsolete rare the action of releasing animals from a pound; cf. loose n.1 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > legal seizure or recovery of property > [noun] > seizing lands or goods > impounding of stray cattle > release from pound
poundlose1622
1622 in G. Ornsby Select. from Househ. Bks. Naworth Castle (1878) 197 For poundlose of viij of the tenants' horses, iijs.
poundman n. [earliest attested as a surname] (a) a man employed to impound stray animals, (now U.S.) spec. a man who works for a public pound, esp. a dogcatcher; (b) a man employed in weir or pound fishing (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fisher > [noun] > using other methods
poundmanc1307
Petera1343
petermanc1400
fish-potter1819
sniggler1840
snatcher1878
ice-fisherman1879
guddler1880
pot fisher1890
pot fisherman1890
c1307 in B. Thuresson Middle Eng. Occup. Terms (1950) 109 (MED) Joh. Pundeman.
1332 in B. Thuresson Middle Eng. Occup. Terms (1950) 109 (MED) Ric. Pondman.
1867 N.Y. Times 22 Aug. 3/5 The pound men collected five horses and sixteen goats, and took them to the pound protected by the Police.
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 222 The poundmen..sometimes eat them and consider them better than scup.
1908 J. London Martin Eden xxxiv. 298 This morning the poundman got Maria's two cows and the baby calf, and—well, it happened that Maria didn't have any money, and so I had to recover her cows for her.
2005 Modesto (Calif.) Bee (Nexis) 20 May b1 Lebow..normally devoted his time to catching stray dogs as the city poundman.
poundmaster n. = pound-keeper n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > pound-master
pindera1500
pinner1499
poundmaster1762
society > authority > office > holder of office > public officials > [noun] > official in charge of stray animals
pindera1500
pinner1499
hog reeve1636
pound-keeper1671
field driver1694
hog constable1710
hog mace1792
poundmaster1897
1762 Laws N.-Y. II. cclii. 257 In each of which two Precincts shall be chosen..three Fence Viewers, one Pound Master; and also..four Constables.
1897 Outing 29 537/1 You get my vote the next time you run for poundmaster.
1935 J. Steinbeck Tortilla Flat xiv. 245 When he was poundmaster he tried all afternoon to lasso a dog.
2005 Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram (Nexis) 1 Feb. Robertson began working as a city animal-control officer in California in 1972. His official title? Pound master.
pound net n. U.S. a fish trap formed by nets staked near the shore of a sea or lake, consisting of a long straight wall or leader, a first enclosure, and a second enclosure (the pound, bowl, or pocket), from which the fish cannot escape; cf. 5c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > pound net
pound net1856
pound1873
1856 Michigan Gen. Statutes (1882) I. 577 The penalties of this section shall not apply or work injury to persons who are the present owners of the pound or trap nets.
1931 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 19 Feb. 6/1 Among the provisions in the proposed laws are:... That the submarine pound net be outlawed entirely in Lake Superior waters.
1996 Sun (Baltimore) 5 Apr. b4/3 Mr. Pratt..and Mr. Gestewitz..caught the first sturgeon Tuesday in a pound net—a sort of funnel and trap arrangement that is staked to the bottom just off shore.
† poundpenny n. Obsolete = pondpenny n. at pond n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1248Pundpani [see sense 4].
pound pup n. North American = pound puppy n.
ΚΠ
1967 Clearfield (Pa.) Progress 18 Nov. 3/2 Even the poor pound pup becomes a highly desirable and correspondingly scarce gift, close to Christmas.
1991 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 6 Aug. g1 (headline) Pound pup goes from animal shelter to movie studio.
pound puppy n. originally and chiefly North American a dog (esp. a puppy) obtained from or held in a pound; a mongrel or mutt.
ΚΠ
1968 Holland (Mich.) Evening Sentinel 9 Dec. 20/2 Retired Judge Robert G. Kinkle..embarks on his annual trek to provide dog pound puppies as Christmas gifts for children.]
1977 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 11 May 34/4 (advt.) Two tiny pound puppies.., Moana Lane grooming Parlor.
2003 AKC Gaz. Nov. 55/3 We often..play ‘Guess the Breed’, in order to help people who have adopted a pound puppy get a better idea of what their new family member's parentage might really be.
pound scoop n. now rare a scoop used in collecting fish from a pound net.
ΚΠ
1876 G. B. Goode Animal Resources U.S. 36 Scoop-nets, (herring-nets, pound-scoops, car-scoops, &c.)
1890 Cent. Dict. Pound-scoop, a scoop-net used in taking fish out of a pound.

Derivatives

pound-like adj.
ΚΠ
1883 Times 23 May 5/3 The circular pound-like structure of stone called the Place of Skulls, where prisoners were formerly executed.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 20 Jan. 5/2 A corner is boarded off in a sort of pound-like manner.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

poundn.3

Brit. /paʊnd/, U.S. /paʊnd/
Forms:

α. 1500s poundes (plural), 1700s– pound.

β. 1600s powne.

γ. 1900s– pun (English regional (northern and midlands)).

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pound v.1
Etymology: < pound v.1
I. Senses relating to pounding as in a pestle.
†1. In plural. The remnants of a substance after it has been pounded. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > grinding or pounding > [noun] > that which has been ground
pounds1562
stamping1594
rapings1596
rasping1617
grating1725
pounding1872
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 46 The poundes of the rootes [of Mandrake] must be put into a small firkin of swete wyne.
2. Chiefly English regional (south-western). An apparatus for pounding or crushing apples to make cider; a cider mill. Also: the building in which this apparatus is housed (cf. pound house n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > cider-making > [noun] > mill or press
wringc890
presser1570
pound1627
stone-case1664
ingenio1669
cider press1673
hopper axis1808
fruit-mill1874
1627 in M. Cash Devon Inventories 16th & 17th Cent. (Devon & Cornwall Record Soc.) New Ser. 11 (1966) 38 One Windinge Sheete with sackes and seemes... For a part of the powne.
1796 W. Marshall Rural Econ. W. Eng. I. 228 (note) Hence, no doubt, the epithet ‘pound’ is applied to the house, &c. in which the whole business of cider making is performed.
1832 Trans. Provinc. Med. & Surg. Assoc. 6 202 This mischievous part of the pound [i.e. lead basins used in cider presses] is now almost universally exploded, and in their place wooden ones are substituted.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Pound,..5. A mill in which to grind the apples for making cider.
1962 Times 22 Nov. 24/7 (advt.) Most useful farm buildings; stable, loose box; cider pound.
3. English regional (northern and midlands). A pounder, a pestle. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for altering consistency > [noun] > crushing or grinding > pestle
pounderOE
pestlec1350
stamping-iron1552
polt1612
monk1763
pound1905
1905 J. T. Micklethwaite Let. 15 Sept. (MS.) Pun, a sort of great pestle for beating mortar.
1907 J. T. Fowler in Corr. William Fowler 534 Well worked up with a ‘pun’, a wooden implement something like a great pestle.
II. Senses relating to hitting or striking.
†4. A mark on a person's body caused by a heavy blow; a bruise. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun] > bruise
brusurea1375
frousshure1477
bruise1533
wan1533
battering1558
squat1578
intuse1590
battery1594
crush1601
contusiona1616
sugillation1623
mishanter1754
stone bruise1805
rainbow1810
birze1818
pound1862
strawberry1921
1862 J. T. Campion Alice 35 [He] would frequently return [from a combat at fisticuffs] in a deluge of gore and all over pounds and bruises.
5.
a. A heavy blow; a thump. Also: a sound produced by or as if by such a blow; a thud.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > non-resonance > [noun] > non-resonant impact sound > thump
thump1552
pound1863
dowfart1864
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > [noun] > heavily or severely > a blow in
pound1863
1863 J. S. Le Fanu House by Church-yard II. iv. 28 His Reverence jumped out of bed with a great pound on the floor.
1864 Dublin Univ. Mag. Apr. 451/2 He would seize his crutch and make a swoop or a pound at the offender.
1901 Daily Chron. 7 June 4/1 The breathless shout, the pound of hoofs—‘The Favourite! Favourite wins!’
1941 B. Robertson I saw Eng. iii. 43 For the first time I heard the pound of the guns.
1984 S. Naipaul Beyond Dragon's Mouth x. 214 There was the heavy pound of rhythm and blues from scattered speakers.
1991 M. Dorris & L. Erdrich Crown of Columbus i. 7 A small tree, uprooted, tossed forward by the pound of waves.
b. A journey made with heavy steps or movement; a long, slow, or arduous progression. Cf. pound v.1 2d(a).
ΚΠ
1907 Daily Chron. 6 Dec. 6/4 Majestically the Potsdam glided from Rotterdam on her ten days' pound to New York.
2004 Guardian (Nexis) 20 Jan. 10 Each of our volunteers had to run for between 10 and 12 minutes, working from a gentle jog to a heavy pound up a big incline.
c. U.S. slang (chiefly in the language of hip-hop): a modified handshake in which two people touch their fists together as a gesture of greeting or approbation.
ΚΠ
1990 ‘KRS-1’ Love's gonna Getcha (song) in Washington Post (1992) 25 Oct. c2/2 I give him a pound, oh I mean I shake his hand, he's the neighborhood drug dealer, my man.
1997 N.Y. Mag. 16 June 28 I walked up to him to give him the pound..and he just jumped in the air.
2004 T. Ferguson Swingers 17 If it wasn't for sparing Rena's feelings, I would've reached over and gave him a pound and said, ‘Right on my brotha!’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

poundv.1

Brit. /paʊnd/, U.S. /paʊnd/
Forms:

α. Old English punian, early Middle English punie, Middle English pone, Middle English pownd (past participle), Middle English poynd (past participle), Middle English–1600s poune, Middle English–1600s powne, 1500s pune, 1700s–1800s poon (Scottish), 1800s pwn (Welsh English); English regional 1700s– poon (chiefly south-west midlands), 1800s pown (Lancashire, past participle), 1800s– pounn (Herefordshire), 1900s– poan (Cornwall).

β. Middle English ponne, 1500s–1600s pun, 1500s–1600s punne; English regional (chiefly northern and midlands) 1700s– pun, 1800s punn.

γ. late Middle English–1500s pounde, late Middle English–1700s pownd, 1500s– pound; English regional (Yorkshire) 1800s pund, 1800s– p'und.

Origin: Of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps related to West Frisian pún , Middle Dutch puyn , poin (Dutch puin ), German regional (Low German: East Friesland) pûn , all in sense ‘rubble, trash, rubbish’ (of unknown origin), although the exact relationship is difficult to explain phonologically. Compare i-pone v., and also pun v.2The β forms have a shortened stem vowel; the γ forms show the late Middle English development of an excrescent d after final -n (compare bound adj.1, sound n.3, etc., and see further E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §436). Compare also early Middle English pyne , in sense 1a (one isolated attestation; perhaps implying the existence of Old English *pȳnan, a weak Class I by-form with i-mutation):?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 37 Nim ealdne swynes risel tweȝea punda ȝewiht and wexas syx scyllinga ȝewyht and eles swa mycel and þæt sæpp of cypresso swa micel..and pyne æl togadere.
1.
a. transitive. To break down and crush by beating, with or as with a pestle; to reduce to a pulp or powder; to pulverize. In quot. 1825 at β. with up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > grinding or pounding > grind or pound [verb (transitive)]
grindc1000
i-ponec1000
britOE
poundOE
stampc1200
to-pounec1290
bruisea1382
minisha1382
bray1382
to-grind1393
beatc1420
gratec1430
mull1440
pestle1483
hatter1508
pounce1519
contuse1552
pounder1570
undergrind1605
dispulverate1609
peal1611
comminute1626
atom1648
comminuate1666
porphyrize1747
stub1765
kibble1790
smush1825
crack1833
pun1888
micronize1968
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > work with tools or equipment [verb (transitive)] > mortar or pestle
poundOE
stampc1200
bray1382
stompera1475
pestle1483
contund1599
mortarize1615
pun1838
α.
OE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 701 He nam pic and rysel, and punode togædere, and mid byrstum gemengde.
OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) xxiv. 187 Si contuderis stultum in pilam tipsanas feriente desuper pilo non auferetur ab eo stultitia eius : þeah þu punige stuntne on pil swylce berenhula punigendum bufan punere na byð afyrred fram him dysignyss his.
a1200 Recipe (Faust. A.x) in T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning, & Starcraft (1866) III. 292 Wið þa bleinna þes se hocces mora ȝesodan, puna & ald rusel smoru lea þer to.
?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 23 Nim niwe beane and puna.
a1325 St. Cuthbert (Corpus Cambr.) 53 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 120 (MED) Þe ius of smal sage do þerto & clene wete flour; Togadere poune it swuþe wel & lei it al hote þerto.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) Matt. ii. 44 He that shal falle on this stoon, shal be broken togidre; forsothe vpon whom it shal falle, it shal togidre poune [a1425 L.V. al tobrise; L. conteret] hym.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 89 Spicerye ȝyveþ smell whan it is powned.
?a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 40 (MED) Take þe route of þe docke and poune hit wel in barweys smere.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. i. 3 Sothrenwood pounde with a rosted Quince, and laide to the eyes.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xii. 53 Poune and temper them altogither.
β. c1450 Practica Phisicalia John of Burgundy in H. Schöffler Mittelengl. Medizinlit. (1919) 232 (MED) Take sengrene..rybworte, and ponne hem small.1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 132 Then punne it in a morter.1599 T. Heywood 1st Pt. King Edward IV sig. Cv The maddest slaue that ere pund spice in a morter.1662 H. Stubbe Indian Nectar ii. 8 Cacao nut, punned, and dissolved in water.1825 W. Parsons in Fowler Corr. (priv. printed 1907) 534 Barrow lime mortar and washed sand made through a fine riddle and punned up to a proper consistency, using as little water as possible.1879 Cheshire Sheaf July 250/1 Pun, to beat, to pound... The gritstone of this neighbourhood, which is now ground by machinery into sand, was formerly pounded by hand labour, chiefly by women who used small hand hammers. The operation was termed punnin'.γ. c1522 E. Betts Let. in B. Cusack Everyday Eng. 1500–1700 (1998) 228 Take..a good handfull of ffemetery halfe an handfull of mugwort And halfe an handfull of ysop And pounde hem all to gyder in A morter.1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. Civ Sometime also beeing whole sodden, they bruse or pound them in a morter.1658 J. Jones tr. Ovid Invective against Ibis 138 Anaxarchus..being condemned..to be pound with iron pestels in a morter.1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 53 The Peasant..who pounds with Rakes The crumbling Clods. View more context for this quotation1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iv. iv. 417 Let him..dry them, and pound them in a mortar.1796 J. Guy Misc. Select. I. ii. 98 Some that have not cider-mills, pound the apples in a stone mortar.1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. I. viii. 315 After the apples have been pressed, they may be economically pounded a second time.1865 J. Lubbock Prehist. Times xiii. 455 A black carbonaceous mass, which is pounded into a fine powder.1906 Times 19 Jan. 4/5 The larger fragments [of stone] going back into the mortar, to be pounded again until they are the right size.1949 V. S. Reid New Day i. xix. 97 The cassava will be dried and pounded in the mortar to make the cassava flour for our bammie cakes.1988 Classical Rev. 38 413 Now cooks will appreciate the futility of pounding long, tubular garlic leaves in a mortar.
b. transitive. figurative.
ΚΠ
α.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job xix. 1 Hou longe ȝee tormente my lif, and pownen [a1425 L.V. al to-breken; L. atteritis] me with woordis?
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 135 (MED) Þe soule..gedereþ togederes and pouneþ in a morter of hure conscience monye and diuerse bitter spices of hure synnes.
β. 1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. L2v The word of God is not preached vnto them, and as it were braied, punned, interpreted, and expounded.1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. 152 Hee therefore so ground and punned Annibal, by coasting him thorow all Samnium.γ. a1500 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 15th Cent. (1939) 276 (MED) Pownd hym [sc. the herb chastity] and temper hym with penitence.a1677 I. Barrow Wks. (1683) II. 104 To think a gross body may be ground and pounded into rationality.1884 Nonconformist & Independent 12 June 570/1 The Lord Advocate..pounded it [sc. the Bill] to powder.1902 Times 15 Feb. 9/1 I am not for pounding the Boers to powder, for I know that it is impossible.1999 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 28 Mar. g13 Old culinary myths are exploded and wives' tales pounded into bits by the findings of the Cook's staff and writers.
2.
a. transitive. To strike hard with the fists or a heavy instrument; to strike or beat with repeated heavy blows; to thump, to pummel; to kick. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > beat heavily or severely
pounda1325
batter1377
pellc1450
hatter1508
whop1575
labour1594
thunder-beat1608
behammer1639
thunderstrike1818
sledgehammer1834
pun1838
to beat to a pulp1840
jackhammer1959
α.
a1325 St. Peter (Corpus Cambr.) 389 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 260 (MED) Þat folk & ȝonge children ek þane wrecche bigonne to poune.
a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 140 (MED) Þe maystyr of þe Iewes lawe þroston hym don from loft and wyth stonys pounet hym, so þat he was negh ded.
1787 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. Poon, or Pun, to kick.
1790 A. Wilson Poems 61 John swore that he wad poon you [rhymes aboon you, spoon you].
1864 B. Brierley Layrock of Langley-side ix. 121 Whose face appeared to have been pown into all shapes.
1887 F. T. Havergal Herefordshire Gloss. in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 602/1 Poon the door.
a1893 E. R. Morris in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 602/1 [Montgomery] I'll pwn thee head for thee if thee dusn't be quiet.
β. 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. i. 39 Hee would punne thee into shiuers with his fist, as a sayler breakes a bisket. View more context for this quotation1787 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. at Poon Ise pun him till the bitling.1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. at Pun Sally..was reminded of her duty by Betsey ‘punning at the door!’γ. 1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Ceyx & Alcyone in Fables 376 With cruel Blows she pounds her blubber'd Cheeks.1795 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana 191 Pounds thy pate.1839 W. M. Thackeray Fatal Boots in Wks. (1869) 386 I stood pounding him with my satire.1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. vi. 134 The big boys who sit at the tables pound them and cheer.1874 J. A. Symonds Sketches Italy & Greece (1898) I. ix. 176 Horsed sea deities pounding one another with bunches of fish.1908 Smart Set June 21/2 She stopped at the door of the house and pounded the knocker vigorously.1960 M. Spark Bachelors xii. 224 The typist in the corner listlessly pounded her silent machine.1991 Premiere Sept. 16/3 Meredith Brody's critique..pounded the stuffing out of this over-hyped, whiny art film.2002 H. Igboanusi Dict. Nigerian Eng. Usage 226 Because they could not get much money, I was thoroughly pounded.
b. transitive. With out. To type (a document) or play (a piece of piano music) with heavy keystrokes; (hence) to type or play angrily, rapidly, or repetitively.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > typing > type [verb (transitive)]
to peck outa1382
pound1865
write1874
typewrite1887
type1888
tickle1926
to tap out1952
1865 Janesville (Wisconsin) Weekly Gaz. 5 Jan. Some youthful tormentor..was vigorously pounding out..songs and quadrilles.
1891 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Daily Tribune 21 July 2/4 One can scarcely imagine Hawthorne pounding out ‘The Scarlet Letter’ on the typewriter.
1904 F. Lynde Grafters v. 58 He sat down at the typewriter to pound out a letter to the general counsel, resigning his sinecure.
1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? ix. 162 I was back in the old groove, pounding it out for the Record again.
1973 W. McCarthy Detail i. 48 He had just enough time to pound out two or three short paragraphs.
1990 Raritan Spring 45 We marched to military tunes pounded out on the piano by one of the schoolmistresses.
2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Mar. 65/3 Cuban pounds out 1,000 e-mail letters a day.
c. transitive. To knock in or out by pounding; to hammer, beat. Chiefly figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > beat in or out
denta1398
enfounder1477
pound1875
1875 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera V. li. 53 My foolishness is being pounded out of me.
1898 L. Stephen Stud. of Biographer II. v. 182 He must not simply state a reason, but pound it into a thick head by repetition.
1935 Fortune Aug. 127/1 That car bodies just off the line had to have their dents and bumps pounded out was interesting in itself.
1989 Face Jan. 66/2 Mann seemed able to pound out a mammoth high-tech rhythm without crushing the melodic nuances of his actors.
2004 New Yorker 3 May 87 Pancho had lived on practically nothing but heroin for the three years before Lorton, so whatever fighting dog was in him could be pounded out in little or no time.
d. transitive. colloquial (a) originally U.S. To walk upon; to cover (a distance or area) on foot, esp. laboriously. (b) British. to pound the (also a) beat: (of a police officer) to patrol a designated area; (hence) to perform routine police duties, esp. those of a constable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk upon or tread [verb (transitive)]
to step (up)on ——OE
beatOE
treadc1384
betread1495
overwalk1533
foot1557
walk1574
trample1595
reiterate1648
to step foot in1864
pound1890
society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > traverse on foot [verb (transitive)] > in the course of official duty
walka1430
pound1890
1890 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Sentinel 24 Sept. A day patrolman ‘pounds the sidewalk’ a large portion of the time.
1897 North Adams (Mass.) Transcript 9 Aug. 1/3 The horse was pounding the road hard, and was evidently being driven for all there was in him.
1906 A. H. Lewis Confess. Detective iv. 44 It's worth while to pound a beat, when one has such kindly and appreciative superiors.
1946 P. Brickhill & C. Norton Escape to Danger 11 The worn track..which kriegies ‘pounded’ or ‘bashed’ (walked) for hours at a time.
1978 J. Gardner Dancing Dodo xxxiv. 270 I shall personally arrange for you to be back pounding the beat, in uniform.
1986 W. Lancs. Evening Gaz. 8 May 3/2 Energetic nurse Beryl Winstanley pounded the pavements of Paris and raised about £400 for sick children.
1999 BBC Top Gear Mag. June 110/1 First, you get into the force and spend a couple of years pounding the beat.
e. transitive. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). to pound one's ear (also pillow): to sleep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [verb (intransitive)]
sleepc825
swotherc1000
lib1567
peep1699
caulk1818
to pound one's ear (also pillow)1894
flop1907
to catch some z's1963
1894 Atlantic Monthly Sept. 322/2 The most of the men..said ‘Pound yer ear well’ to their nearest neighbors, and then the candle was put out.
1927 C. Samolar in Amer. Speech 2 290/2 To sleep is to pound the ear. I think this phrase originated with railroaders. Sleeping in a caboose on a fast-moving train actually consists of pounding one's ear.
1930 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post Crescent 21 Feb. 8/6 She's sleeping the sleep of the weary, I suppose. And Harry loves to pound his pillow.
1947 J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus xx. 300 Listen to the old bastard snore. He's pounding his ear.
1966 K. Amis Anti-death League ii. 131 He'll be pounding his pillow now.
f. transitive. U.S. Stock Market. To beat down the price of (stock); = hammer v. 2d (b). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (transitive)] > influence the market > depress the market
fall1564
bear1840
hammer1865
bang1884
flatten1891
pound1895
1895 Colorado Springs Gaz. 18 Dec. 7/2 The bears had a big inning this week and pounded stocks none the less vigorously for their long sojourn in the cold.
1898 N.Y. Times 16 Sept. 8/2 Professional bear operators would have gleefully pounded stocks and helped along declines.
1901 Munsey's Mag. Jan. 522/1 The bears let the opportunity to pound securities go by the board.
1907 Washington Post 1 Apr. 10/1 (heading) Bears incited panic... Still pounding securities.
g. transitive. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). To consume (a drink, esp. beer) rapidly or in great quantity. Also with down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > drink deeply
swinka1563
swig1682
mop1811
to knock back1931
pound1970
slug1979
slam1982
1970 J. Bouton Ball Four 224 Give him some low smoke and we'll go in and pound some Budweiser.
1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 20 Feb. d11 Frank'll pound that beer and tell some great tales.
1993 Fortune (Electronic ed.) 15 Nov. 50 They would stand around grumbling about business, pounding down too many bourbons, and ingesting mass quantities of charred beef.
2003 M. McCafferty Second Helpings 168 I stole Pepe's beer and pounded it. Then I snatched Bridget's cup and did the same. All in less than sixty seconds.
3.
a. intransitive. To beat hard, deliver heavy blows, fire large shot at or on; (also, of the heart or head) to beat or throb violently. to pound away: to deliver repeated blows. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (intransitive)] > beat heavily or severely
dingc1300
poundc1390
dinta1500
jackhammer1975
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > strike with specific degree of force [verb (intransitive)] > heavily > and continuously
to pound away1885
β.
c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 338 (MED) Bet him wel wiþ þe beste..Or on þe hed ponne hard.
γ. 1815 W. Scott Paul's Lett. (1816) viii. 173 [Remark attributed to Wellington at Waterloo.] Hard pounding this gentlemen; let's see who will pound longest.1860 R. W. Emerson Power in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 68 The chief engineer, pounded with a hammer on the trunnions of a cannon, until he broke them off.1861 J. R. Green Let. 14 Mar. (1901) 73 I spent the bulk of yesterday pounding at Dunstan in the British Museum.1885 Manch. Examiner 20 Feb. 5/2 The Opposition are anxious to have their great guns in the Upper Chamber pounding away at the same time.1901 H. Harland Comedies & Errors 60 Ferdinand Augustus's heart began to pound.1935 E. Glasgow Vein of Iron (1936) v. vii. 298 My head is pounding like hell. It's like an army of elephants.1973 N. Monsarrat Kappillan of Malta 317 The enemy planned to select one point, and pound away at it until it was pulped out of existence.2003 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 10 Apr. 3 Somebody produced a sledgehammer and pounded at the massive marble pediment.
b. intransitive. Of a ship or boat: to rise and fall heavily in the water.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > pitch and roll
travaila1393
totterc1400
walterc1400
labour1587
senda1625
to bruise the water1836
stagger1840
pant1869
to walk turkey1888
pound1903
slam1958
1903 Daily Mail 21 Aug. 5/7 The sea had become rough, causing the boats to pound considerably.
1948 Times 11 Feb. 2/2 The weather worsened, the list increased, and the vessel pounded and shipped water.
1988 Ships Monthly Dec. 33/2 Because of her relatively shallow draft she tends to pound in a heavy head sea and her speed has to be reduced.
†4. transitive. To rain (heavy blows) on. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > deliver (repeated blows) on
pound1596
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. iv. sig. D7 An hundred knights..All which at once huge strokes on him did pound, In hope to take him prisoner. View more context for this quotation
5. intransitive. To walk or run with heavy steps; to ride a horse fast or hard; (of a ship or boat) to move forcibly through the water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > heavily
stamp1490
trample1530
tramp1570
stump1600
thump1604
clump1665
trape1706
pound1801
clamp1808
clomp1829
lump1861
tromp1892
stunt1901
stomp1919
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > make progress > pound (of steamer)
pound1801
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride a horse (or other animal) [verb (intransitive)] > ride heavily or recklessly
bruise1833
pound1852
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 63 A girl, who was footing and pounding for fame at a prodigious rate.
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour ix. l. 288 He thought he saw [him]..pounding away on the chestnut [horse].
1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I Am xviii I am not going to pound over half the county in a futile endeavour to come up with the hounds.
1898 Daily News 23 July 7/1 She [sc. a steamer] pounded along splendidly at over 20 knots an hour.
1910 Times 3 Dec. 19/6 This good mare..cleared four strands of naked wire and pounded the rest of the field.
1917 Times 4 Aug. 3/3 The ship pounded through the water.
1924 M. Webb Precious Bane iv. ii. 248 I loosed Bendigo and the oxen and cows..and they went pounding away into the woods, half crazy with fear.
1958 P. Pearce Tom's Midnight Garden (1970) viii. 45 James pounded up the doorsteps and into the house.
1991 P. Carey Tax Inspector ii. 13 He pounded through the rain-puddled streets.
1999 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 26 Dec. f1 The ship pounded north through heavy seas.
†6. transitive. To compact (earth) by hard and repeated beating. Obsolete. Cf. pun v.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > make dense or solid [verb (transitive)] > by heating
pound1850
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > beat flat or solid
rama1450
poss1611
pun1838
pound1850
tamp1879
1850 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 11 ii. 706 The cows so thoroughly ‘pound’ the ground that in summer it is in many parts as hard as a brick.
1855 Harper's Mag. June 10/2 They take a limber twig, and..bury it in the mud, after which, having pounded the earth to sufficient hardness, they pull out the twig, and then have a hole that answers the purpose of a pipe-stem.
7. North American colloquial.
a. transitive. to pound sand: to engage in a pointless, menial task. Usually as a command, expressing dismissal or contempt.
ΚΠ
1857 A. Smith City Poems 169 Peopled now By outcasts, sullen men, bold girls who sat Pounding sand in the sun.
1905 Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 9 Apr. 5/2 If he told them to pound sand, they would pound sand, and think that it was the finest thing in the world.
1926 L. H. Nason Chevrons vi. 195 You guys was too easy!.. Whyncha tell him to pound sand?
1977 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 7 May (Mag. section) 3/3 Masses of men and women are going to tell the McMartrys and Carters of this world to go pound sand.
2004 T. Berling Reeling in Years v. 153 Usually I tell the individual advancing the critique, ‘Go pound sand up your ass’.
b. transitive. to have sense enough to pound sand: used chiefly in negative constructions to imply a lack of competence or intelligence.
ΚΠ
1877 Globe (Atchison, Kansas) 26 Dec. We don't know whether the young man you refer to knows enough to pound sand or not.
1894 Los Angeles Times 19 Aug. 5/4 The chairman who didn't know enough to pound sand with a club.
1937 W. M. Raine Bucky follows Cold Trail ii. 17 You haven't sense enough to pound sand in a rat hole.
1963 Washington Post 24 June a24/2 If the United Golf Association had the brains to pound sand, Francis would have been refree [sic] of this round.
1994 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. (Electronic ed.) 24 May 11 a He ain't got sense enough to pound sand in a rathole.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

poundv.2

Brit. /paʊnd/, U.S. /paʊnd/
Forms: Middle English pownyd (Oxfordshire, past tense), 1500s– pound, 1600s pown'd (past participle), 1800s 'pound; also Scottish pre-1700 pond, pre-1700 ponde, pre-1700 poond, pre-1700 pownd, pre-1700 punddit (past participle), pre-1700 punde, pre-1700 pune, pre-1700 pvnd, pre-1700 pwnd, pre-1700 1800s– pund, 1800s poon (southern), 1800s pun'd (past tense).
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pound n.2
Etymology: < pound n.2 Compare pind v., pend v.2, poind v.It is possible that some Older Scots examples (in senses 1 and 2) of the forms punde , ponde may in fact represent spellings of poind v., given the exact equivalence of the spellings ui , oi and u..e , o..e in Older Scots (compare discussion at poind v.).
†1. Scots Law.
a. transitive. = poind v. 1a. Obsolete.In quot. 1779 more loosely: to fine.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > legal seizure or recovery of property > [verb (transitive)] > seize for debt > seize debtor's goods
pound1398
poindc1430
stress?c1430
pind1437
distressc1450
strain1455
strain1503
distrain1530
fence1570
excuss1726
naam1895
1398 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 36 And all the catill..beand and funden in ony place of..Malkarstoun in cas that defaute be of the paymentez..to be distreignede throw the forsaidez Abbot..and for vten lefe of..ony minister..pondit arestid away led and halden and in thaire profite to be turnide.
1432 in J. R. N. Macphail Highland Papers (1916) II. 173 Powere..to distrenȝe and punde the tenands..for ony malis wnlawis or ony other rychtis.
c1455 Burgh Laws (Adv.) c. 4 in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Pund A burges may nocht pund ane other but leif of his balȝe.
1500 in J. Stuart & G. Burnett Exchequer Rolls Scotl. (1888) XI. 393 To pund Thomas Fresale for viij li. vij s. vj d.
1563 Rec. Dumfries Burgh Court in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue f. 189, at Pund Ane irne pott pondit at the instance of [etc.].
1604 in D. G. Barron Court Bk. Urie (1892) 4 The transgressouris thairof to be punddit preceislie as is aboun wryttin.
1672 Processes Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court No. 121 9 Jan. That samyn night shoe [sc. a mare] was punded.
1779 in W. Skinner Soc. Trained Bands Edinb. (1889) 67 Each captain shall pound everie absent to the value of —, which money shall go for the use of the poor.
1827 W. Taylor Poems 17 When sent to poon a neighbour's house This active man was bald and crouse.
b. intransitive. = poind v. 1b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > legal seizure or recovery of property > [verb (intransitive)] > seize goods for debt
distrainc1350
pound1439
poind1495
1439–40 in C. Innes Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis (1845) I. 239 And I graunt..to the saide chaplane..full fredome and power to punde..withoutht leif..of ony iuge..for the said annuale..nocht perchans payt.
1500 in J. Stuart & G. Burnett Exchequer Rolls Scotl. (1888) XI. 457 Falyeing of the said preif the said schiref sal pund for the said thre termez.
1596 in D. H. Fleming Reg. Christian Congregation St. Andrews (1890) II. 821 And with power to pund thairfoir and to incarcerat the inobedient.
1665 in Rothesay Town Council Rec. (1935) I. 96 And ordayns the officers to pond for the samyn.
2. transitive. To place or shut (trespassing or stray animals) in a pound; to impound. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > legal seizure or recovery of property > [verb (transitive)] > take into judicial power > impound cattle
pind?c1225
poundc1460
impound1554
c1460 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Oseney Abbey (1907) 44 (MED) Þey haue fre commune to þere shepe and hogges and to all other bestes in all my maners in wodis, and that þey be not Inparkid or pownyd but þey be i-founde in open harme.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 663/2 I pounde, I put horse, or beestes in the pynfolde.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. L1 Me thinks I deserue to be pounded, for straying from Poetry to Oratorie.
1673 R. Leigh Transproser Rehears'd 124 They exercise a petty royalty in..pounding beasts.
a1711 T. Ken Urania in Wks. (1721) IV. 503 Your Neighbour Swains the Trespassers will pound.
1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) II. 205 Law~suits for trespass, for poaching, pounding cattle,..give him notoriety in the country.
1891 D. Stephen Gleanings 128 I pun'd his beasts and made him pay trespass money.
1930 Burlington (N. Carolina) Daily Times 25 July 3 (advt.) Pay your Dog Tax between now and August 1st and Save Cost of taking up and pounding dogs.
1990 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 9 Feb. 28 (caption) You can't pound a dog for goin' to visit his old mum!
3.
a. transitive. To shut up or confine in an enclosure; to confine within any bounds or limits, material or otherwise; occasionally with up. Also figurative. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)]
thringc1250
restrain1384
bound1393
abounda1398
limita1398
pincha1450
pin?a1475
prescribec1485
define1513
coarcta1529
circumscribe1529
restrict1535
conclude1548
limitate1563
stint1567
chamber1568
contract1570
crampern1577
contain1578
finish1587
pound1589
confine1597
terminate1602
noosec1604
border1608
constrain1614
coarctate1624
butta1631
to fasten down1694
crimp1747
bourn1807
to box in1845
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclosing or confining > enclose or confine [verb (transitive)]
pena1200
bebar?c1225
loukc1275
beshuta1300
parc1300
to shut in1398
to close inc1400
parrockc1400
pinc1400
steekc1400
lock?a1425
includec1425
key?a1439
spare?c1450
enferme1481
terminea1500
bebay1511
imprisona1533
besetc1534
hema1552
ram1567
warda1586
closet1589
pound1589
seclude1598
confine1600
i-pend1600
uptie1600
pinfold1605
boundify1606
incoop1608
to round in1609
ring1613
to buckle ina1616
embounda1616
swathe1624
hain1636
coopa1660
to sheathe up1661
stivea1722
cloister1723
span1844
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > quality of being restricted or limited > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)]
thringc1250
circumscrivec1374
arta1382
bound1393
limita1398
restrainc1405
pincha1450
restringe1525
coarcta1529
circumscribe1529
restrict1535
conclude1548
narrow?1548
limitate1563
stint1567
chamber1568
contract1570
crampern1577
contain1578
finish1587
conscribe1588
pound1589
confine1597
border1608
circumcise1613
constrain1614
coarctate1624
butta1631
prescribe1688
pin1738
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > confine [verb (transitive)]
beloukOE
loukOE
sparc1175
pena1200
bepen?c1225
pind?c1225
prison?c1225
spearc1300
stopc1315
restraina1325
aclosec1350
forbara1375
reclosea1382
ward1390
enclose1393
locka1400
reclusea1400
pinc1400
sparc1430
hamperc1440
umbecastc1440
murea1450
penda1450
mew?c1450
to shut inc1460
encharter1484
to shut up1490
bara1500
hedge1549
hema1552
impound1562
strain1566
chamber1568
to lock up1568
coop1570
incarcerate1575
cage1577
mew1581
kennel1582
coop1583
encagea1586
pound1589
imprisonc1595
encloister1596
button1598
immure1598
seclude1598
uplock1600
stow1602
confine1603
jail1604
hearse1608
bail1609
hasp1620
cub1621
secure1621
incarcera1653
fasten1658
to keep up1673
nun1753
mope1765
quarantine1804
peg1824
penfold1851
encoop1867
oubliette1884
jigger1887
corral1890
maroon1904
to bang up1950
to lock down1971
1589 T. Nashe To Students in R. Greene Menaphon Epist. sig. **4v Euen so these men..do pound their capacitie in barren Compendiums.
1608 T. Heywood Rape of Lucrece sig. E3v Sit round the enemy is pounded fast In their owne folds.
1632 P. Massinger & N. Field Fatall Dowry iv. sig. H2 Married once, A man is stak'd, or pown'd, and cannot graze Beyond his owne hedge.
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 10 That gallant man who thought to pound up the crows by shutting his Parkgate.
1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth V. 179 For the Heart that still wanders is pounded at last.
1776 in Remembrancer (1777) 4 272/2 Hopkins, and his little navy, are safely pounded in Providence river, near Rhode Island.
1848 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 323 And the round wall of madness pound us in.
1987 A. Theroux Adultery 166 She was trying to pound up the crows by shutting the park gate.
b. transitive. Fox-hunting. To confine (a rider, or the field) in an enclosed space, or otherwise prevent the following of the chase; usually in passive. In extended use, of a rider or jockey: to leave (the rest of the field) well behind. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > hunt with hounds [verb (passive)] > of a rider
pound1827
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)] > bring to an impasse
checkmatea1400
stalec1470
set1577
stallc1591
embog1602
nonplus1605
stalemate1765
stump1807
pound1827
to stick up1853
snooker1889
stymie1902
biff1915
dead-end1921
1827 Sporting Mag. 19 353 The whole field was fairly pounded.
1853 ‘C. Bede’ Adventures Mr. Verdant Green ix. 78 The pounding of the same gentleman in the middle of the first chorus.
1860 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harborough xvi. 135 Whenever one individual succeeds either in what is termed pounding a field, or in getting such a start of them that nobody shall have a chance of catching him whilst the pace holds.
1864 Daily Tel. 27 Aug. The Marquis, however, in following his leader over the agricultural plough, got..pounded with him in the political field.
1875 G. J. Whyte-Melville Riding Recoll. (1879) viii. 131 A man who never jumps at all can by no possibility be ‘pounded’.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) In hunting, an impassable barrier is said ‘to pound the field’. So also a bold rider who clears a fence which others cannot do is said ‘to pound the lot’.
1966 Times 8 Sept. 6/6 He was achieving a second consecutive victory, having also pounded the field at Shepton Mallet on the previous day.
4. transitive. To dam (a body of water). Frequently with up. Now English regional (west midlands) and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [verb (transitive)] > impound water
pindeOE
pen1576
pound1652
pond1673
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved Ded. to Cromwell sig. b2v Watermills, which destroy abundance of gallant Land, by pounding up the water..even to the very top of the ground.
1770 J. Brindley To Comm. 1 If they be made to pound more than five or six Feet, some of the adjacent Lands will be laid under Water.
1792 Trans. Soc. Arts 10 119 Which occasioned a fall for the water to run off, and prevented its being pounded up.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. at Pounded They'n bin gropin' fur trout I spect, I see the bruck's pounded.
a1898 E. Smith MS Coll. Warwicks. Words in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 601/2 Pound [to dam up water].
5. transitive. Newfoundland. to pound off: to divide (the hold of a fishing vessel) into compartments for storage (cf. pound n.2 5a); (gen.) to partition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition or fact of being interjacent > be or make interjacent [verb (transitive)] > partition or form a partition > to form compartments
penfold1830
to pound off1873
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > divide [verb (transitive)] > into sections or compartments
space1557
comparta1785
section1819
sectionize1828
partition1849
sectionalize1854
to pound off1873
pigeonhole1879
compartment1930
compartmentalize1945
cellularize1948
1873 M. Carroll Seal & Herring Fisheries Newfoundland 9 Sailing vessels..are pounded off in the hold to prevents the seals' pelts from shifting.
1887 G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S.: Hist. & Methods II. 426 In the hair-seal fishery, on the coast of Newfoundland, the vessel's hold is ‘pounded off’ into bins only a little larger than the skins.
1982 G. M. Story et al. Dict. Newfoundland Eng. 390/1 My father had our basement pounded off.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

poundv.3

Brit. /paʊnd/, U.S. /paʊnd/
Forms: 1500s 1800s– pound; English regional 1800s– poun' (Somerset), 1900s– peawnd (Lancashire).
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pound n.1
Etymology: < pound n.1
I. Senses relating to pound n.1 1.
†1. transitive. To weigh. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > ascertain the weight of [verb (transitive)]
weighc1000
aweighOE
peisea1382
poise1458
ponder?1518
pound1570
tron1609
perpenda1612
librate1623
scale1691
weight1734
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Siv/2 To Pound, ponderare.
†2. transitive. To test the weight of (coins, or of the blanks to be minted) by weighing the number of these which ought to make a pound weight (or a certain number of pounds), and ascertaining how much they vary from the standard. See pounding n.3 1. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > coining > coin (money) [verb (transitive)] > test coin
pyx1745
pound1871
1871 G. F. Ansell Royal Mint (ed. 3) 35 It is different when coins, instead of being individually weighed, are simply pounded, that is, weighed en masse, just to determine that a certain number are in a given weight.
3. transitive. English regional. To weigh out or divide into pounds. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > ascertain the weight of [verb (transitive)] > again > weigh out
weigh1585
pound1876
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Punded, divided into pounds.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Pound,..4. To make up into pats or parcels each of 1 lb. weight... ‘We always poun's up our butter.’
II. Senses relating to pound n.1 2.
4. transitive. slang and English regional. To bet a pound, or an extravagant amount, on (an event or outcome). Also with clause as object. Esp. in to pound it: to wager a large amount at long odds; (hence) to state with conviction. Now rare. Perhaps Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > demonstrate confidence [phrase]
go1768
to pound it1819
bet1852
to bet the (also a) farm1886
(I, you, etc.) betcha, betcher1922
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > type of betting
run or throw a levant1714
levant1797
to pound it1819
field1860
to go for the gloves1861
to buy money1906
plunge1939
to bet like the Watsons1949
(to bet (etc.)) on the nose1951
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 198 A man will say I'll pound it to be so; taken, probably from the custom of..offering ten pounds to a crown at a cock-match, in which case, if no person takes this extravagant odds, the battle is at an end. This is termed pounding a cock.
1828 ‘J. Bee’ Living Picture London ii. 44 You'll soon be bowled out, I'll pound it.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxvi. 99 I'll pound it that Barney's managing properly.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iv. xv. 287 I'll pound it, Master, to be in the way of school.
1901 F. E. Taylor Folk-speech S. Lancs. at Peawnd He's drunken bi neaw, aw'll peawnd yo.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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