impound
/ɪmˈpəʊnd
/verb [with object]
1Seize and take legal custody of (something, especially a vehicle, goods, or documents) because of an infringement of a law: vehicles parked where they cause an obstruction will be impounded...
- Tough new regulations giving the Vehicle Inspectorate powers to impound heavy goods vehicles operated without a licence are now in force with the industry's backing.
- The research added: ‘At present, police do not have the legal authority to impound these vehicles.’
- In that case the police impounded a vehicle which was being operated without a proper validation sticker and by a person for whom there was an outstanding warrant for driving without insurance.
Synonyms
confiscate, appropriate, take possession of, seize, commandeer, expropriate, requisition, sequester, sequestrate, take;
Law distrain, disseize, attach;
Scottish Law poind
2Shut up (domestic animals) in a pound or enclosure: the cattle were rounded up and impounded...
- Figures from the latest report by Waterford County Council revealed that of 681 dogs impounded by the Pound last year, just eight were re-claimed and 21 re-homed.
- You become an activist when your dog is impounded, or a freeway is built past your house, or your child gets a disease because of pollution or sour gas.
- One proposal was changing the amount of time dogs were impounded from 72 hours to one week.
Synonyms
pen in, shut up/in, fence in, coop up, hem in, box in, hedge in, rail in;
cage, enclose, confine, kettle;
North American corral
2.1Lock up (someone): almost forgotten were the poor unfortunates impounded in the prison...
- One week we're impounded, and one week we're not.
Synonyms
lock up, incarcerate, imprison, confine, intern, immure, hold captive, hold prisoner, put under lock and key
informal put behind bars
3(Of a dam) hold back (water): it will impound a reservoir 130 miles long...
- Just before the locks and dams impounded water, timber was clear-cut and the remaining stump fields are so hazardous that even avid fishermen avoid them.
- The effluent gets blended with the floods impounded by the dam and the water quality becomes slightly improved.
- TLDP III alone will impound water in a reservoir and submerge 156.49 hectares.
Derivatives
impoundable
- Unlike criminals, motorists have impoundable cars and plenty of identifying numbers and paperwork that make them more likely to pay fines.
- The violation is an impoundable offense under R.A. 4136.
impounder
- Victims have described the cowboy car impounders as ‘swarthy and threatening’ and some have paid cash in full rather than face their wrath.
- The impounder may sell the animal if the owner fails to appear within thirty days and claim it, but must return it when the owner appears and compensates the impounder for the damage and for the expense of keeping and advertising the animal.
impoundment
- Some of the impoundments were lined with plastic, which flapped over the edge of the dirt embankment like a garbage bag inside a trash can.
- Of even more importance to freshwater fishing, and particularly dams or impoundments, is the barometric pressure.
- If your pet should wander off in search of a mate, you may be faced with paying fines and impoundment costs or worse should your pet be injured while roaming for a mate.