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To pledge; to bind; to betroth by joining hands, in order to cohabitation, before the celebration of marriage. [Obs.]

To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain. We can not hold mortality's strong hand. Shak. Death! what do'st O,hold thy blow. Grashaw. He hat not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue. Macaulay.

That which holds, binds, or influences. Burke.

honor, a debt contracted by a verbal promise, or by betting or gambling, considered more binding than if recoverable by law. -- Honor bright! An assurance of truth or fidelity. [Colloq.] -- Honor court (Feudal Law), one held in an honor or seignory. -- Honor point. (Her.) See Escutcheon. -- Honors of war (Mil.), di…

To bind or fasten with hoops; as, to hoop a barrel or puncheon.

Not to be avoided or evaded; obligatory; binding; compulsory; as, an imperative duty or order.

ents were diligently improved. Gibbon. True policy, as well as good faith, in my opinion, binds us to improve the occasion. Washington.

or receive something; inability; disqualification; as, the inacapacity of minors to make binding contracts, etc.

To bind out by indenture or contract; to indenture; to apprentice; as, to indent a young man to a shoemaker; to indent a servant.

To bind by indentures or written contract; as, to indenture an apprentice.

Incapable of being rightfully broken or dissolved; perpetually binding or obligatory; firm; stable, as, an indissoluble league or covenant. To the which my duties Are with a most indissoluble tie Forever knit. Shak.

affairs. Astrologers call the evil influences of the stars,evil aspects. Bacon. Cantsthou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion Job xxxviii. 31. She said : influence bad " Spenser.

To fasten or bind, as with a knot; to knot together. Fuller.

To bind up,as in a knot; to include. [Obs.] Fuller.

Not obstructing; presenting no interruption bindrance. [R.] Milton. So have Iseen a river gintly glide In a smooth course, and inoffensive tide. Addison. -- In"of*fen"sive*ly, adv. -- In"of*fen"sive*ness, n.

One or more separate leaves inserted in a volume before binding; as: (a) A portion of the printed sheet in certain sizes of books which is cut off before folding, and set into the middle of the folded sheet to complete the succession of paging; -- also called offcut. (b) A page or pages of advertisements inserted.…

To insert a leaf or leaves in; to bind with blank leaves inserted between the others; as, to interleave a book.

To intertwine; to weave or bind together. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Not to be broken; holding or binding fast; tenacious. "Him death's iron sleep oppressed." Philips.

or furring strips of a ceiling, are nailed; -- called, according to its position or use, binding joist, bridging joist, ceiling joist, trimming joist, etc. See Illust. of Double-framed floor, under Double, a.