pound

noun

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.

The unit of currency used in the United Kingdom and its dependencies. It is divided into 100 pence. Symbol £.

A unit of weight in various measurement systems.

A unit of currency in various currency systems.

Various non-English units of measure.

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.

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.

Any of various units of currency formerly used in the United States.

(informal) Various non-English units of currency not officially called pounds.

(metonymic) The people who work for the pound.

A place for the detention of stray or wandering animals.

(UK) A place for the detention of automobiles that have been illegally parked, abandoned, etc.

A hard blow.

A kind of fishing net, having a large enclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.

(Newfoundland) A division inside a fishing stage where cod is cured in salt brine.

A section of a canal between two adjacent locks.

(US) The symbol #.

A surname.

A town in Wise County, Virginia, United States.

A village and town in Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States, both named after Thaddeus C. Pound.

A unit of mass in various measurement systems.

A unit of force in various measurement systems

(informal, non-scientific) Ellipsis of pound-force. [A unit of force equal to the weight, on earth (subject to standard gravity), of a mass of one avoirdupois pound, equal to about 4.44822 newtons. Symbol lbf or lb_f.]

Ellipsis of pound weight.

Ellipsis of pound mass.

Ellipsis of pound force.

verb

(slang, UK regional, transitive) To wager a pound on.

(transitive) To strike hard, usually repeatedly.

(transitive) To crush to pieces; to pulverize.

(transitive, slang) To eat or drink very quickly.

(intransitive, of a body part, generally heart, blood, or head) To beat strongly or throb.

To advance heavily with measured steps.

(engineering) To make a jarring noise, as when running.

(transitive, baseball, slang) To pitch consistently to a certain location.

To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound.

(transitive, vulgar, slang) To penetrate sexually, with vigour.

Roots

ponduspound- · Latin · weight

Synonyms for pound

quidn kilogramn poundaln pennyweightn hundredweightn thumpn dollarn beatv hammern pencen weightn

Synonyms & related words for pound

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of pound — including quid, kilogram, poundal, pennyweight, hundredweight, thump. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to pound

Explore words related to pound — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include piaster, myriagram, avoirdupois, kilos, ounces, poundage, rotl, pounders. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for pound

Common synonyms for pound include quid, kilogram, poundal, pennyweight, hundredweight, thump, dollar, beat — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does pound come from?

The word pound breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root pound-, from Latin pondus (“weight”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.