pound

pound1 [ paund ] noun count ***

1. ) a unit for measuring weight, used in several countries including the U.S. and the U.K., containing 16 OUNCES and equal to 0.454 kilograms. Its written abbreviation is lb.:

The baby weighed over 10 pounds.

half a pound of cheese

2. ) a place where pets that are lost or not wanted are kept

a ) AMERICAN a place where the police take your car if you have parked it illegally

3. ) a unit of money used in the U.K. and several other countries. Its symbol is £.

a ) a coin or bill worth one pound

your pound of flesh

something that someone owes you that you take even though it will cause them to suffer:

have/get/want/demand etc. your pound of flesh: They signed an agreement and the Republicans now want their pound of flesh.

pound

pound 2 [ paund ] verb *

1. ) intransitive or transitive to hit something several times with a lot of force:

I could hear them pounding on the door.

a ) to hit something hard many times so that it breaks into small pieces or becomes a smooth thick substance:

Pound the mixture into a coarse powder.

2. ) intransitive pound up/down/toward/across/along to walk or run with heavy and regular steps:

She pounded down the hall to see what had happened.

3. ) intransitive if your heart pounds, it BEATS strongly and quickly because you are nervous, excited, or afraid

a ) if your head pounds, you have a pain in it that feels like someone is hitting it continuously

4. ) transitive to continuously attack a place with bombs or other large weapons for a long period of time:

Air force jets have been pounding rebel positions all day.

`pound ,into verb transitive INFORMAL

pound something into someone/someone's head to teach someone something by repeating it many times:

My parents pounded it into my head never to talk to strangers.

,pound `out phrasal verb transitive INFORMAL

1. ) if you pound out a song, you play it loudly by hitting your instrument very hard:

Everyone sang as Mom pounded out the family favorites on the piano.

2. ) AMERICAN to do something in a very short period of time:

Some of these writers pound out three books a year.