impound

impound (ɪmˈpaʊnd)

—vb
1.	to confine (stray animals, illegally parked cars, etc) in a pound
2.	a. to seize (chattels, etc) by legal right
	b. to take possession of (a document, evidence, etc) and hold in legal custody
3.	to collect (water) in a reservoir or dam, as for irrigation
4.	to seize or appropriate

im'poundable

—*adj*

im'poundage

—n

im'poundment

—n

im'pounder

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

impound

1554, "to shut up in a pen or pound," from in- "in" + pound (n.). Originally of cattle seized by law.

Example sentences

Large dams that impound large amounts of water have shown this many times over many years.

The towing company and impound lot will generally also require cash or credit card, no checks.

The army permitted the government to impound the plane only after several days.

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Related Words

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Matching Quote

"As the brain of man is the speck of dust in the universe that thinks, so the leaves—the fern and the needled pine and the latticed frond and the seaweed ribbon—perceive the light in a fundamental and constructive sense. The flowers looking in from the walled garden through my window do not, it is true, see me. But their leaves see the light, as my eyes can never do. They take it, as it forever spills away radiant into space in a golden waste, to a primal purpose. They impound its stellar energy, and with that force they make life out of the elements. They breathe upon the dust, and it is a rose. Say that this is done with neither thought nor passion, and by something other than will. True that a plant may not think; neither will the profoundest of men ever put forth a flower. Of the use and the beauty of flowering there can be no shade of doubt. It is a rare thought of which as much can be said."

-Donald Culross Peattie