IMPOUND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does impound mean? 

• IMPOUND (verb)
  The verb IMPOUND has 2 senses:

1. take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority

2. place or shut up in a pound

  Familiarity information: IMPOUND used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPOUND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they impound    ... he / she / it impounds   
Past simple: impounded   
Past participle: impounded   
-ing form: impounding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

attach; confiscate; impound; seize; sequester

Context example:

The police confiscated the stolen artwork

Hypernyms (to "impound" is one way to...):

take (take into one's possession)

Verb group:

sequester (requisition forcibly, as of enemy property)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "impound"):

condemn (appropriate (property) for public use)

garnish; garnishee (take a debtor's wages on legal orders, such as for child support)

distrain (confiscate by distress)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

impounding; impoundment (placing private property in the custody of an officer of the law)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Place or shut up in a pound

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

impound; pound

Context example:

pound the cows so they don't stray

Hypernyms (to "impound" is one way to...):

confine; constrain; hold; restrain (to close within bounds, or otherwise limit or deprive of free movement)

Verb group:

pound; pound up (shut up or confine in any enclosure or within any bounds or limits)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

“And you’ll probably find that your creditors will impound the banking account of Mr. Cornelius,” said Holmes.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)