pound

Noun (1)

pound (plural pounds or (UK colloquial) pound)

1. A unit of weight in various measurement systems.
   • B-2 bombers are the only plane capable of carrying the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which experts have highlighted as the only type of bomb potentially capable of destroying Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility. Each B-2 bomber is able to carry two of these “bunker buster” bombs, which weigh...2025 June 21, Thomas Bordeaux, Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, “US moves B-2 bombers as Trump weighs Iran options”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2025
   1. Various non-English units of measure.
2. Various non-English units of measure.
3. A unit of mass equal to 16 avoirdupois ounces (= 453.592 g). Today this value is the most common meaning of "pound" as a unit of weight.
   • Research shows that retaining even one or two pounds after giving birth can make problems more likely in a subsequent pregnancy, experts said, with women who have several children facing a "slippery slope" if they continue to gain weight each time.2010 July 28, Rachel Williams, “Mothers who lose weight before further pregnancy ‘reduce risks’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2020

   Synonyms:

   lb

4. A unit of mass equal to 12 troy ounces (≈ 373.242 g). Today, this is a common unit of mass when measuring precious metals, and is little used elsewhere.

   Synonyms:

   lb t

5. Various non-English units of measure.
6. The base unit of sterling, the currency used in the United Kingdom and some of its dependencies. It is divided into 100 pence.
   • "Only a hundred and ninety-three pound," said Mr. Tulliver. "You've brought less o' late; but young fellows like to have their own way with their money. Though I didn't do as I liked before I was of age." He spoke with rather timid discontent.1860, George Eliot, chapter 6, in The Mill on the Floss, book 5
   • For students in developing countries who can't get it any other way, or for students in the first world, who can but may choose not to. Pay thousands of pounds a year for your education? Or get it free online?2012 November 11, Carole Cadwalladr, “Do online courses spell the end for the traditional university?”, in The Observer, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2020

   Synonyms:

   pound sterling, quid, nicker, sov

7. Any of various units of currency used in Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria, and formerly in the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Nigeria, Israel, and South Africa.
   • He glanced back through what he had read and, while feeling his water flow quietly, he envied kindly Mr Beaufoy who had written it and received payment of three pounds, thirteen and six.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[[Episode 4]]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   punt

8. Any of various units of currency formerly used in the United States.
   • the Rhode Island pound; the New Hampshire pound
   • He knocked out cans of warm cola at two pound fifty a time.2010, Steven Field, Dusty's Fort, →ISBN, page 33
9. (informal) Various non-English units of currency not officially called pounds.
   • In the report of the Special Budget Commission certifying the estimates for 1874-75, it was announced on authority that the total amount of this debt did not exceed 14,725,000 Turkish pounds(liras), or £13,000,000, while the Special Commission for the verification of the budget for 1875-76 returned...1878, w:Henry Hozier, The Russo-Turkish War: Including an Account of the Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Power and the History of the Eastern Question, page 61
10. (US) The symbol #.
    • Holonym: hashtag
    • To be connected, press pound.

    Synonyms:

    octothorpe, pound sign, hash, hash sign, hashtag, number sign, sharp

Verb (1)

pound (third-person singular simple present pounds, present participle pounding, simple past and past participle pounded)

1. (UK, regional, slang, transitive) To wager a pound on.
   • ‘Good-bye, my dear!' said Sleary. 'You'll make your fortun, I hope, and none of our poor folkth will ever trouble you, I'll pound it.’1854, Dickens, chapter 4, in Hard Times
   • “He's done,” said the Moocher brutally. “He didn't hear nuffin, I'll pound it.”1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 70

Noun (2)

pound (plural pounds)

1. A place for the detention of stray or wandering animals.
   • Mr. Sarnoff also sent to the pound one of the best-known dogs in the world. Nipper, the black-and-white terrier usually depicted peering with head cocked into the horn of a Victrola, listening for “His Master's Voice,” was de-emphasized as a corporate symbol.1997 February 24, N. R. Kleinfield, “Robert Sarnoff, 78, RCA Chairman, Dies”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   animal shelter

2. (metonymically) The people who work for the pound.
   • (Police officer to a dog owner) "He'd better stay calm or I'll have the pound come and get him."2002, 00:27:30 from the start, in 25th Hour
3. (UK) A place for the detention of automobiles that have been illegally parked, abandoned, etc.
   • Inspector Douglas Todd: Where did you get a truckload of cigarettes from anyway? / Detective Axel Foley: From the Dearborn Hijacking. / Todd: The Dearborn Hijacking? That bust went down weeks ago. That load's supposed to be in the damn pound!1984, Beverly Hills Cop, Paramount Pictures

   Synonyms:

   impound, car pound, impound lot

4. A section of a canal between two adjacent locks.

   Synonyms:

   reach

5. A kind of fishing net, having a large enclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.
   • Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to...1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
6. (Newfoundland) A division inside a fishing stage where cod is cured in salt brine.

   Synonyms:

   bulk

Verb (2)

pound (third-person singular simple present pounds, present participle pounding, simple past and past participle pounded)

1. To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound.
   • When I short haue shorne my sowce face
     & swigg’d my horny barrell,
     In an oaken Inne I pound my skin
     as a suite of guilt apparrellc. 1620, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665)
   • And he who were pleasantly disposed, could not well avoid to liken it to the exploit of that gallant man, who thought to pound up the crows by shutting his park gate.1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England

Verb (3)

pound (third-person singular simple present pounds, present participle pounding, simple past and past participle pounded)

1. (transitive) To strike hard, usually repeatedly.
   • She had Lord James' collar in one big fist and she pounded the table with the other and talked a blue streak. Nobody could make out plain what she said, for she was mainly jabbering Swede lingo, but there was English enough, of a kind, to give us some idee.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
   • [...] and on the Saturday heavy seas pounded the W.R. on its exposed coastal stretch between Dawlish and Teignmouth, loosening the ballast and forcing trains to proceed with extreme caution.1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The railways and the Devon floods”, in Trains Illustrated, page 709

   Synonyms:

   hammer, pelt, bang, baste, batter, beat, belabor, blow, boom-boom, buffet

2. (transitive) To crush to pieces; to pulverize.
   • Pound an onion, warm a spoonful of ghee and throw in the onion, brown it slightly, add your curry stuff, brown this till it smells pleasantly, […]1887, Indian Cookery "Local" for Young Housekeepers: Second Edition, page 67
   • It was the hour before the first crowing of the cocks, and along with Nyo Boto and Grandma Yaisa's clattering, the first sound the child heard was the muted, rhythmic bombpabombpabomp of wooden pestles as the other women of the village pounded couscous grain in their mortars, preparing the...1976, Alex Haley, chapter 1, in Roots: The Saga of an American Family

   Synonyms:

   pulverate, triturate

3. (slang, transitive) To eat or drink very quickly.
   • You really pounded that beer!
   • The sounds of a house-party rolled down the street / So we pounded our Pilsner and leapt to our feet2007, “Fire Marshall Willy”, performed by The Dreadnoughts

   Synonyms:

   bolt, down, chug, eat, have, fret, drink, hydrate, imbibe, wet one's whistle

4. (slang, transitive) To pitch consistently to a certain location.
   • The pitcher has been pounding the outside corner all night.
5. (intransitive, generally heart, blood, or head) To beat strongly or throb.
   • As I tiptoed past the sleeping dog, my heart was pounding but I remained silent.
   • My head was pounding.
6. (slang, transitive, vulgar) To penetrate sexually, with vigour.
   • I was pounding her all night!
   • She acting, so I'm attacking, try break the mattress / Sexy, so I suggested to switch to sideways / Pounded for 'bout a hour she said she tired2008, Gucci Mane, “Bachelor Pad”, in The Movie

   Synonyms:

   drill, get up in, nail, poke, Formal terms, bed, coit, coitize, dight, enjoy

7. To advance heavily with measured steps.
   • We pounded along, stopped, landed soldiers; went on, landed custom–house clerks to levy toll in what looked like a God–forsaken wilderness, with a tin shed and a flag–pole lost in it; landed more soldiers—to take care of the custom–house clerks, presumably.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I
8. To make a jarring noise, as when running.
   • The engine pounds.

Noun (3)

pound (plural pounds)

1. A hard blow.

   Synonyms:

   pounding

Proper noun capitalized: Pound

IPA/paʊnd/

Pound (countable and uncountable, plural Pounds)

1. A surname.
2. A town in Wise County, Virginia, United States.
3. A village and town in Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States, both named after Thaddeus C. Pound.