Pound (?), 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.
With cruel blows she pounds her blubbered
cheeks.
Dryden.
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.
Pound, v. i. 1. To
strike heavy blows; to beat.
2. (Mach.) To make a jarring noise, as
in running; as, the engine pounds.
Pound, 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.
2. A level stretch in a canal between
locks.
3. (Fishing) A kind of net, having a
large inclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by
wings spreading outward.
Pound covert, a pound that is close or
covered over, as a shed. -- Pound overt, a
pound that is open overhead.
Pound, v. t. To confine in, or as
in, a pound; to impound. Milton.
Pound, 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 weight;
especially, a legal standard consisting of an established number of
ounces.
☞ 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. 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.
2. A British denomination of money of account,
equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about
$4.86. There is no coin known by this name, but the gold sovereign is
of the same value.
☞ 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.