pound

1. 1.

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

   “the salesman pounded the door knocker”

   “a bible-thumping Southern Baptist”

   Synonymsthumppoke

   Broaderhit
2. 2.

   strike or drive against with a heavy impact

   “ram the gate with a sledgehammer”

   “pound on the door”

   Synonymsramram down

   Broaderthrust
3. 3.

   move heavily or clumsily

   “The heavy man lumbered across the room”

   Synonymslumber

   Broaderwalk
4. 4.

   move rhythmically

   “Her heart was beating fast”

   Synonymsbeatthump

   Broadermove

   Narrowerpulsatepalpitatethrashflap
5. 5.

   partition off into compartments

   “The locks pound the water of the canal”

   Synonymspound off

   Broaderpartition
6. 6.

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

   “The prisoners are safely pounded”

   Synonymspound up

   Broaderrestrain
7. 7.

   place or shut up in a pound

   “pound the cows so they don't stray”

   Synonymsimpound

   Broaderrestrain
8. 8.

   break down and crush by beating, as with a pestle

   “pound the roots with a heavy flat stone”

   Broaderbreak up

Other forms of pound

plural

pounds·

past tense

pounded·

present participle

pounding·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about pound

What does pound mean?

pound means "16 ounces avoirdupois". That is the primary sense; the word has 22 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in pound?

pound has 1 syllable: pound. In IPA it is /ˈpaʊnd/.

What is another word for pound?

Close synonyms include lb, British pound, British pound sterling, pound sterling, quid. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is pound a common word?

pound is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with pound?

3 words rhyme with pound. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.