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BONDAGE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Sexual practice that involves physically restraining (by cords or handcuffs) one of the partners
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("bondage" is a kind of...):
sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The state of being under the control of another person
Synonyms:
bondage; slavery; thraldom; thrall; thralldom
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("bondage" is a kind of...):
subjection; subjugation (forced submission to control by others)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bondage"):
bonded labor (a practice in which employers give high-interest loans to workers whose entire families then labor at low wages to pay off the debt; the practice is illegal in the United States)
servitude (state of subjection to an owner or master or forced labor imposed as punishment)
serfdom; serfhood; vassalage (the state of a serf)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The state of being under the control of a force or influence or abstract power
Example:
a self freed from the bondage of time
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("bondage" is a kind of...):
subjection; subjugation (forced submission to control by others)
Context examples:
So they called the yellow Winkies and asked them if they would help to rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they would be delighted to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set them free from bondage.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Insidiously, and by remote ways, as well as by the power of stick and stone and clout of hand, were the shackles of White Fang's bondage being riveted upon him.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Once in a while she would pass a house, and the people came out to look at her and bow low as she went by; for everyone knew she had been the means of destroying the Wicked Witch and setting them free from bondage.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
He had learned another lesson of his bondage.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The people greeted Dorothy kindly, and invited her to supper and to pass the night with them; for this was the home of one of the richest Munchkins in the land, and his friends were gathered with him to celebrate their freedom from the bondage of the Wicked Witch.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
It savoured of the trap, of bondage.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Yet of the trap and of bondage he knew nothing.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
There was a strong smell of pine, and subtle wood fragrances filled the air, reminding him of his old life of freedom before the days of his bondage.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
His bondage had softened him.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
