pound

pound¹ W2S1 [paund] n

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1¦(weight)¦

2¦(money)¦

3¦(for dogs and cats)¦

4¦(for cars)¦

5 get/take/demand etc your pound of flesh

6¦(telephone)¦

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[Sense: 1-2, 5-6; Origin: Old English pund, from Latin pondo]

[Sense: 3-4; Date: 1400-1500; Origin: Perhaps from Old English pund-, found only in compound words]

1.) ¦(WEIGHT)¦ written abbreviation lb

a unit for measuring weight, equal to 16 ↑ounces or 0.454 kilograms

pound of

▪ a pound of apples

▪ Moira weighs about 130 pounds .

▪ The grapes cost $2 a pound .

2.) ¦(MONEY)¦ also pound sterling a) £ the standard unit of money in Britain, which is divided into 100 pence

▪ They spent over a thousand pounds.

▪ a multi-million pound business

▪ a five pound note

b) the (British) pound

the value of British money compared with the value of the money of other countries

▪ The pound was up against the dollar.

c) the standard unit of money in various other countries, such as Egypt and the Sudan

3.) ¦(FOR DOGS AND CATS)¦ [C usually singular]

a place where dogs and cats that have been found on the street are kept until their owners come to get them

4.) ¦(FOR CARS)¦

a place where cars that have been illegally parked are kept until their owners pay money to get them back

5.) get/take/demand etc your pound of flesh

to get the full amount of work, money etc that someone owes you, even though it makes them suffer and you do not really need it

6.) ¦(TELEPHONE)¦[U]

AmE the ↑pound key

pound ²

pound² v

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1¦(hit)¦

2¦(heart)¦

3¦(head)¦

4¦(move)¦

5¦(attack with bombs)¦

Phrasal verbs

　pound something<=>out

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[: Old English; Origin: punian]

1.) ¦(HIT)¦ [I and T]

to hit something very hard several times and make a lot of noise, damage it, break it into smaller pieces etc

▪ He began pounding the keyboard of his computer.

pound against/on

▪ Thomas pounded on the door with his fist.

▪ Waves pounded against the pier.

pound sth against/on sth

▪ Green pounded his fist on the counter.

2.) ¦(HEART)¦

if your heart or blood is pounding, your heart is beating very hard and quickly

pound with

▪ Patrick rushed to the door, his heart pounding with excitement.

▪ She ran, her heart pounding in her chest .

3.) ¦(HEAD)¦ [I]

if your head is pounding, it feels painful, especially because you have a headache or you have been using a lot of effort

4.) ¦(MOVE)¦ [I always + adverb/preposition, T]

to walk or run quickly with heavy loud steps

pound along/through/down etc

▪ I could hear him pounding up the stairs.

▪ a policeman pounding his beat

▪ Runners will be pounding the pavement this weekend during the London Marathon.

5.) ¦(ATTACK WITH BOMBS)¦ [T]

to attack a place continuously for a long time with bombs

▪ Enemy forces have been pounding the city for over two months.

pound out [pound sth<=>out] [i]phr v

to play music loudly

▪ The Rolling Stones were pounding out one of their old numbers.