pound
 I. pound1 (pound)n.
1. Abbr. lb.
a. A unit of weight equal to 16 ounces (453.592 grams).
b. A unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces (373.242 grams). See table at measurement.
2. A unit of weight differing in various countries and times.
3. A British unit of force equal to the weight of a standard one-pound mass where the local acceleration of gravity is 9.817 meters (32.174 feet) per second per second.
4.
a. The basic monetary unit of the United Kingdom, worth 20 shillings or 240 old pence before the decimalization of 1971. Also called pound sterling.
b. See table at currency.
5. A monetary unit of Scotland before the Act of Union (1707). Also called pound scots.
6. The pound key on a telephone. [Middle English, from Old English pund, from West Germanic *punda-, from Latin (lībra) pondō, (a pound) by weight. See (s)pen- in Indo-European Roots.] II. pound2 (pound)v. pound·ed, pound·ing, poundsv. tr.
1. To strike repeatedly and forcefully. See Synonyms at beat.
2. To beat to a powder or pulp; pulverize or crush.
3. To instill by persistent, emphatic repetition:
pounded knowledge into the students' heads.
4. To assault with heavy gunfire.v. intr.
1. To strike vigorous, repeated blows:
He pounded on the table.
2. To move along heavily and noisily:
The children pounded up the stairs.
3. To pulsate rapidly and heavily; throb:
My heart pounded.
4. To move or work laboriously:
a ship that pounded through heavy seas.n.
1. A heavy blow.
2. The sound of a heavy blow; a thump.
3. The act of pounding.Idiom:pound the pavement Slang
To travel the streets on foot, especially in search of work. [Middle English pounden, alteration of pounen, from Old English pūnian.] poundʹer n. III. pound3 (pound)n.
1. A public enclosure for the confinement of stray dogs or livestock.
2. A place in which impounded property is held until redeemed.
3. An enclosure in which animals or fish are trapped or kept.
4. A place of confinement for lawbreakers.tr.v. pound·ed, pound·ing, pounds
To confine in or as if in a pound; impound. [Middle English, from Old English pund-, enclosure (as in pundfall, pen).]
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