bond (2 and 4 are the most freq. uses)
1.
chain,
fetter, usu. pl. (often fig.)
Err. V. i. 250
“gnawing . . . my b-s in
sunder,”
John III. iv. 70
“I tore them”
(=hairs) “from their
b-s,”
Troil. I. iii. 66,
Cæs. I. i. 38
“captive b-s,”
Cym. I. i. 117
“b-s of death.”
2.
tie of duty,
obligation of affection
AYL. I. ii. 293
“the natural bond of
sisters,”
Cor. V. iii. 25
“All bond and privilege
of nature,”
Tim. I. i. 145,
Lr. I. i. 95
“I love your majesty
According to my bond,”
Sonn. cxvii. 4
“Whereto all bonds do
tie me”
;
Cæs. II. i. 280
“bond of
marriage”
; cf.
H8 II. iv. 38
“My bond to
wedlock.”
3.
cementing or uniting
force Wint. IV. iii. [iv.] 586 “Prosperity's the very bond of love.”
4.
deed by which one
binds oneself to another to make a payment or fulfil
a contract
Mer.V. I. iii. 28
“I think I may take his
bond,”
III. ii. 318, &c.,
R2 II. i. 64
“rotten parchment
bonds”
; often fig. and in extended use,
R3 IV. iv. 77
“Cancel his bond of
life,”
Mac. III. ii. 49
“Cancel and tear to
pieces that”
“great bond” (=
Banquo's life),
Sonn. cxlii. 7
“seal'd false bonds of
love,”
Lucr. 136.
