Definition of pound verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

pound

verb

/paʊnd/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they pound	/paʊnd/ /paʊnd/
he / she / it pounds	/paʊndz/ /paʊndz/
past simple pounded	/ˈpaʊndɪd/ /ˈpaʊndɪd/
past participle pounded	/ˈpaʊndɪd/ /ˈpaʊndɪd/
-ing form pounding	/ˈpaʊndɪŋ/ /ˈpaʊndɪŋ/

Phrasal Verbs

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hit

[intransitive, transitive] to hit something/somebody hard many times, especially in a way that makes a lot of noise synonym hammer

pound at/against/on something Heavy rain pounded on the roof.
All she could hear was the sound of waves pounding against the cliffs.
Someone was pounding at the door.
pound away (at/against/on something) The factory's machinery pounded away day and night.
pound somebody/something (with something) She pounded him with her fists.

Synonyms beatbeatbatter ▪ pound ▪ lash ▪ hammerThese words all mean to hit somebody/something many times, especially hard.beat to hit somebody/something a lot of times, especially very hard:

Someone was beating at the door.
A young man was found beaten to death last night.
At that time, children were often beaten for quite minor offences (= as a punishment).

batter to hit somebody/something hard a lot of times, especially in way that causes serious injury or damage:

He had been badly battered around the head and face.
Severe winds have been battering the coast.

pound to hit somebody/something hard a lot of times, especially in a way that makes a lot of noise:

Heavy rain pounded on the roof.

lash to hit somebody/something with a lot of force:

The rain lashed at the window.

The subject of lash is often rain, wind, hail, sea or waves.hammer to hit somebody/something hard a lot of times, in a way that is noisy or violent:

He hammered the door with his fists.

pound or hammer?There is not much difference in meaning between these two, but to pound is sometimes a steadier action. To hammer can be more violent and it is often used figuratively.Patterns

to beat/batter/pound/lash/hammer somebody/something with something
to beat/batter/pound/lash/hammer against something
to beat/batter/pound/hammer on something
to beat/batter/hammer something down
the rain/wind/sea beats/batters/pounds/lashes (at) something

Definitions on the go

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walk noisily

[intransitive] + adv./prep. to move with noisy steps

She pounded along the corridor after him.

Extra Examples

A group of men on horseback came pounding across the field.
I could hear the sound of pounding footsteps.

of heart/blood

[intransitive] to beat quickly and loudly

Her heart was pounding with excitement.
The blood was pounding (= making a beating noise) in his ears.
Her head began to pound.
a pounding headache

break into pieces

[transitive] pound something (to/into something) to hit something many times in order to break it into smaller pieces

The seeds were pounded to a fine powder.

attack with bombs

[transitive] pound something to attack an area with a large number of bombs over a period of time

The area is still being pounded by rebel guns.

of music

[intransitive] pound (out) to be played loudly

Rock music was pounding out from the jukebox.
She could hear music pounding away in the room below.

Word Originverb Old English pūnian; related to Dutch puin, Low German pün ‘(building) rubbish’.

See pound in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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Other results

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Phrasal verbs

pound something out

Idioms

Nearby words

perspective

noun

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