hide·bound

[hahyd-bound]
adjective
1.
narrow and rigid in opinion; inflexible: a hidebound pedant.
2.
oriented toward or confined to the past; extremely conservative: a hidebound philosopher.
3.
(of a horse, cow, etc.) having the back and ribs bound tightly by the hide.

Origin:
1550–60; hide2 + -bound1

hide·bound·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
hidebound (ˈhaɪdˌbaʊnd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  restricted by petty rules, a conservative attitude, etc
2.  (of cattle, etc) having the skin closely attached to the flesh as a result of poor feeding
3.  (of trees) having a very tight bark that impairs growth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Hidebound is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

hidebound
1550s, from hide (n.1) + past tense of bind. Original reference is to emaciated cattle with skin sticking closely to backbones and ribs; metaphoric sense of "restricted by narrow attitudes" is first recorded c.1600.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Others have been dissuaded from applying by hidebound teachers and careers
  advisers, who deter them from aspiring to such things.
The hidebound health-care systems of the rich world may resist new technologies
  even as poor countries leapfrog ahead.
Yesterday's visionaries and yesterday's hidebound traditionalists have this
  deficit in common.
And a lot of its buyers are hidebound truck guys, suspicious of change or fads.
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