n. [ The same word as band. Cf. Band, Bend. ] 1. That which binds, ties, fastens, or confines, or by which anything is fastened or bound, as a cord, chain, etc.; a band; a ligament; a shackle or a manacle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder,
I gained my freedom. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. The state of being bound; imprisonment; captivity, restraint. “This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.” Acts xxvi. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A binding force or influence; a cause of union; a uniting tie; as, the bonds of fellowship. [ 1913 Webster ]

A people with whom I have no tie but the common bond of mankind. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Moral or political duty or obligation. [ 1913 Webster ]

I love your majesty
According to my bond, nor more nor less. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) A writing under seal, by which a person binds himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, to pay a certain sum on or before a future day appointed. This is a single bond. But usually a condition is added, that, if the obligor shall do a certain act, appear at a certain place, conform to certain rules, faithfully perform certain duties, or pay a certain sum of money, on or before a time specified, the obligation shall be void; otherwise it shall remain in full force. If the condition is not performed, the bond becomes forfeited, and the obligor and his heirs are liable to the payment of the whole sum. Bouvier. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A financial instrument (of the nature of the ordinary legal bond) made by a government or a corporation for purpose of borrowing money; a written promise to pay a specific sum of money on or before a specified day, given in return for a sum of money; as, a government, city, or railway bond. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The state of goods placed in a bonded warehouse till the duties are paid; as, merchandise in bond. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Arch.) The union or tie of the several stones or bricks forming a wall. The bricks may be arranged for this purpose in several different ways, as in English bond or block bond (Fig. 1), where one course consists of bricks with their ends toward the face of the wall, called headers, and the next course of bricks with their lengths parallel to the face of the wall, called stretchers; Flemish bond (Fig.2), where each course consists of headers and stretchers alternately, so laid as always to break joints; Cross bond, which differs from the English by the change of the second stretcher line so that its joints come in the middle of the first, and the same position of stretchers comes back every fifth line; Combined cross and English bond, where the inner part of the wall is laid in the one method, the outer in the other. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Chem.) A unit of chemical attraction between atoms; as, oxygen has two bonds of affinity. Also called chemical bond. It is often represented in graphic formulæ by a short line or dash. See Diagram of Benzene nucleus, and Valence. Several types of bond are distinguished by chemists, as double bond, triple bond, covalent bond, hydrogen bond. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

10. (Elec.) A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

11. League; association; confederacy. [ South Africa ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

The Africander Bond, a league or association appealing to African, but practically to Boer, patriotism. James Bryce. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Arbitration bond. See under Arbitration. --
Bond creditor (Law), a creditor whose debt is secured by a bond. Blackstone. --
covalent bond, an attractive force between two atoms of a molecule generated by the merging of an electron orbital of each atom into a combined orbital in the molecule. Such bonds vary in strength, but in molecules of substances typically encountered in human experience (as, water or alcohol) they are sufficiently strong to persist and maintain the identity and integrity of the molecule over appreciable periods of time. Each such bond satisfies one unit of valence for each of the atoms thus bonded. Contrasted with hydrogen bond, which is weaker and does not satisfy the valence of either atom involved. --
double bond,
triple bond, a covalent bond which involves the merging of orbitals of two (or three) electrons on each of the two connected atoms, thus satisfying two (or three) units of valence on each of the bonded atoms. When two carbon atoms are thus bonded, the bond (and the compound) are said to be unsaturated. --
Bond debt (Law), a debt contracted under the obligation of a bond. Burrows. --
hydrogen bond, a non-covalent bond between hydrogen and another atom, usually oxygen or nitrogen. It does not involve the sharing of electrons between the bonded atoms, and therefore does not satisfy the valence of either atom. Hydrogen bonds are weak (ca. 5 kcal/mol) and may be frequently broken and reformed in solution at room temperature. --
Bond of a slate or
lap of a slate, the distance between the top of one slate and the bottom or drip of the second slate above, i. e., the space which is covered with three thicknesses; also, the distance between the nail of the under slate and the lower edge of the upper slate. --
Bond timber, timber worked into a wall to tie or strengthen it longitudinally. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Syn. -- Chains; fetters; captivity; imprisonment. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bond, bonde, peasant, serf, AS. bonda, bunda, husband, bouseholder, from Icel. bōndi husbandman, for būandi, fr. būa to dwell. See Boor, Husband. ] A vassal or serf; a slave. [ Obs. or Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bonded; p. pr. & vb. n. Bonding. ] 1. To place under the conditions of a bond; to mortgage; to secure the payment of the duties on (goods or merchandise) by giving a bond. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) To dispose in building, as the materials of a wall, so as to secure solidity. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. In a state of servitude or slavery; captive. [ 1913 Webster ]

By one Spirit are we all baptized . . . whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free. 1 Cor. xii. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. capable of being fastened or secured with a rope or bond.
Syn. -- bindable. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. capable of holding together or cohering; as particles in a mass. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ LL. bondagium. See Bond, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The state of being bound; condition of being under restraint; restraint of personal liberty by compulsion; involuntary servitude; slavery; captivity. [ 1913 Webster ]

The King, when he designed you for my guard,
Resolved he would not make my bondage hard. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Obligation; tie of duty. [ 1913 Webster ]

He must resolve by no means to be . . . brought under the bondage of observing oaths. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Old Eng. Law) Villenage; tenure of land on condition of doing the meanest services for the owner. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Thralldom; bond service; imprisonment. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A field worker, esp. a woman who works in the field. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Native name. ] (Zool.) A small quadruped of Bengal (Paradoxurus bondar), allied to the genet; -- called also musk cat. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Placed under, or covered by, a bond, as for the payment of duties, or for conformity to certain regulations. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bonded goods, goods placed in a bonded warehouse; goods, for the duties on which bonds are given at the customhouse. --
Bonded warehouse, a warehouse in which goods on which the duties are unpaid are stored under bond and in the joint custody of the importer, or his agent, and the customs officers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who places goods under bond or in a bonded warehouse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Masonry) A bonding stone or brick; a bondstone. [ 1913 Webster ]