Pound
(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
(Pound), v. t. To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound. Milton.
Pound
(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.
Poundage
(Pound"age) n.
1. A sum deducted from a pound, or a certain sum paid for each pound; a commission.
2. A subsidy of twelve pence in the pound, formerly granted to the crown on all goods exported or imported,
and if by aliens, more. [Eng.] Blackstone.
3. (Law) The sum allowed to a sheriff or other officer upon the amount realized by an execution; —
estimated in England, and formerly in the United States, at so much of the pound. Burrill. Bouvier.
Poundage
(Pound"age), v. t. To collect, as poundage; to assess, or rate, by poundage. [R.]
Poundage
(Pound"age), n. [See 3d Pound.]
1. Confinement of cattle, or other animals, in a public pound.
2. A charge paid for the release of impounded cattle.
Poundal
(Pound"al) n. [From 5th Pound.] (Physics & Mech.) A unit of force based upon the pound,
foot, and second, being the force which, acting on a pound avoirdupois for one second, causes it to
acquire by the of that time a velocity of one foot per second. It is about equal to the weight of half an
ounce, and is 13,825 dynes.
Pound-breach
(Pound"-breach`) n. The breaking of a public pound for releasing impounded animals.
Blackstone.