1. Home
2. Idioms
3. bind over

bind over

---

---

bind someone over (to someone or something)

to deliver someone to some legal authority; to deliver someone to some legal authority. (A legal usage.) They bound the suspect over to the sheriff. The sheriff will bind over the suspect to the county jail.

See also: bind

bind over

Oblige someone to do or not do something; hold on bail or keep under bond. For example, The sheriff will bind over the murder suspect to the homicide division. This phrase is nearly always used in a legal context. [Late 1500s]

See also: bind

bind over

v.

To put someone under a financial obligation as a guarantee of that person's appearance at trial or of his or her good behavior for a period of time: I was arrested for littering, and the court bound me over to keep the peace for six months. After a brief hearing, the judge bound over the accused murderer for trial and set the bail at one million dollars.

See also: bind