- bind
- O.E. bindan "to tie up with bonds" (literally and figuratively), also "to make captive; to cover with dressings and bandages" (class III strong verb; past tense band, pp. bunden), from PIE base *bhendh- "to bind" (see bend). A derived noun, in various senses, traces back to late Anglo-Saxon times; meaning "tight or awkward situation" is from 1851.