Impound

//ɪmˈpaʊ̯nd// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A place in which impounded things are stored. countable, uncountable

    ""You're gonna drive me to the impound so I can get my car?""

  2. 2
    The state of being impounded. uncountable

    "I already checked that out, and Keller has never called to get it out of impound."

  3. 3
    That which has been impounded. countable, uncountable

    "He handed the keys to the woman and pointed toward the corner of the lot where the impounds were stored."

  4. 4
    Amounts collected from a debtor and held by one with a security interest in property for payment of property taxes and insurance. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To shut up or place in an enclosure called a pound. transitive

    "His car was impounded after he parked it illegally."

  2. 2
    place or shut up in a pound wordnet
  3. 3
    To hold back. transitive

    "water impounded by a dam"

  4. 4
    take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority wordnet
  5. 5
    To hold in the custody of a court or its delegate. transitive

    "to impound stray cattle"

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    To collect and hold (funds) for payment of property taxes and insurance on property in which one has a security interest. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
annexappropriateattachattachbeleaguerbeset

Example

More examples

"The impound lot was near the police station."

Etymology

From im- + pound.

Related phrases

property tax

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.