abound

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈbaʊnd/
  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈbaʊnd/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊnd

Verb

abound (third-person singular simple present abounds, present participle abounding, simple past and past participle abounded)

  1. (intransitive) To be full to overflowing. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][1]
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To be wealthy. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 18th century.][1]
  3. (intransitive) To be highly productive.
  4. (intransitive) To be present or available in large numbers or quantities; to be plentiful. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][1]
    Wild animals abound wherever man does not stake his claim.
    • Where sin abounded grace did much more abound.
    • 1960 December, “New G.E. Line diesel loco maintenance depot at Stratford”, in Trains Illustrated, page 766:
      One end of the east-west building is wet, the other windy, and at present there is smoke abounding, too; but these distressing yard elements can be completely excluded at each end by full-width folding doors [...].
  5. (intransitive) To revel in. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 18th century.][1]
  6. (intransitive) To be copiously supplied
    The wilderness abounds in traps.
    • 1858-1860, George Rawlinson, The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World
      the wild boar, which abounds both in Azerbijan and in the country about Hamadan

Usage notes

  • This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs
  • (copiously supplied): Abound is followed by in or with.

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

References

  1. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abound”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.
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