n.; pl. Pounds collectively Pound or Pounds. [ AS. pund, fr. L. pondo, akin to pondus a weight, pendere to weigh. See Pendant. ] 1. A certain specified measure of mass or weight; especially, a legal standard consisting of an established number of ounces. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The pound in general use in the United States and in England is the pound avoirdupois, which is divided into sixteen ounces, and contains 7, 000 grains (0.453 kilogram). The pound troy is divided into twelve ounces, and contains 5, 760 grains. 144 pounds avoirdupois are equal to 175 pounds troy weight. See Avoirdupois, and Troy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about $4.86 in 1900 and $1.50 in 2002. The modern pound coin was introduced in 1983. Formerly there was a gold sovereign of the same value. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

☞ The pound sterling was in Saxon times, about a. d. 671, a pound troy of silver, and a shilling was its twentieth part; consequently the latter was three times as large as it is at present. Peacham. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Pounding. ] [ OE. pounen, AS. punian to bruise. Cf. Pun a play on words. ] 1. To strike repeatedly with some heavy instrument; to beat. [ 1913 Webster ]

With cruel blows she pounds her blubbered cheeks. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To comminute and pulverize by beating; to bruise or break into fine particles with a pestle or other heavy instrument; as, to pound spice or salt. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To strike heavy blows; to beat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) To make a jarring noise, as in running; as, the engine pounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. pund an inclosure: cf. forpyndan to turn away, or to repress, also Icel. pynda to extort, torment, Ir. pont, pond, pound. Cf. Pinder, Pinfold, Pin to inclose, Pond. ] 1. An inclosure, maintained by public authority, in which cattle or other animals are confined when taken in trespassing, or when going at large in violation of law; a pinfold. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A level stretch in a canal between locks. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Fishing) A kind of net, having a large inclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pound covert, a pound that is close or covered over, as a shed. --
Pound overt, a pound that is open overhead. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A sum deducted from a pound, or a certain sum paid for each pound; a commission. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A subsidy of twelve pence in the pound, formerly granted to the crown on all goods exported or imported, and if by aliens, more. [ Eng. ] Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) The sum allowed to a sheriff or other officer upon the amount realized by an execution; -- estimated in England, and formerly in the United States, at so much of the pound. Burrill. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 3d Pound. ] 1. Confinement of cattle, or other animals, in a public pound. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A charge paid for the release of impounded cattle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To collect, as poundage; to assess, or rate, by poundage. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From 5th Pound. ] (Physics & Mech.) A unit of force based upon the pound, foot, and second, being the force which, acting on a pound avoirdupois for one second, causes it to acquire by the of that time a velocity of one foot per second. It is about equal to the weight of half an ounce, and is 13, 825 dynes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The breaking of a public pound for releasing impounded animals. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]