Definition of BONDAGE

bondage

Plural: bondages

Noun

  • The state of being enslaved or subject to a dominant power.
  • the state of being under the control of a force or influence or abstract power; he sought release from his bondage to Satana self freed from the bondage of time"
    • "he was in bondage to fear:; "
  • the state of being under the control of another person
  • sexual practice that involves physically restraining (by cords or handcuffs) one of the partners
  • The state of being enslaved or the practice of slavery.
  • The state of lacking freedom; constraint.
  • The practice of physically restraining people for sexual pleasure, such as by tying up or shackling.
  • Applied to clothing with many buckles, zips, etc., associated with punk and goth subcultures.

Examples

  • bondage trousers; bondage jeans; bondage pants
  • debt bondage
  • He felt in total bondage to his letters, unable to form a decent word.
  • He lived in financial bondage to his cocaine habit; no matter how much he earned, it all seemed to disappear up his nose.
  • In Judeo-Christian tradition, the Israelites fled bondage at the hands of the Egyptians, only to wander in the wilderness for the next four decades.
  • Their marriage broke up when she discovered he had been engaging in bondage games with a local dominatrix while he was supposedly working out at the gym.

Origin / Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bondage (“serfdom”), from British Medieval Latin bondagium (“an inferior tenure held by a bond or husbandman”), from Middle English bond (“tenant farmer, serf”), from Old English bonda (“householder, husband, head of a family”), of Old Norse origin. Sense development influenced by the unrelated terms bond and bind.

Antonyms

freedom

Scrabble Score: 11

bondage: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
bondage: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
bondage: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

bondage: valid Words With Friends Word