Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A certain sum or rate per pound sterling; a tax, duty, or deduction of so much per pound; specifically, in English history, a duty of 12d. in the pound on exported or imported merchandise. See tonnage and poundage (under tonnage), and subsidy.
  • noun In law, an allowance to a sheriff or similar officer, computed by a percentage on the value of property seized by him or the amount of the judgment or process satisfied, as a compensation for his service.
  • noun In salt-manuf., the number of pounds of salt contained in one cubic foot of brine.
  • To assess or rate by poundage; collect as poundage.
  • noun The confinement of cattle in a pound.
  • noun A charge levied upon the owners of impounded cattle, both as a fine for trespass and to defray the cost of caring for the animals.
  • noun A commission of so much in a pound upon the earnings of weavers, paid in some parts of England to superintendents of weaving-plants.
  • noun The series of pounds in an abattoir in which animals can be kept until they are slaughtered.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb rare To collect, as poundage; to assess, or rate, by poundage.
  • noun Confinement of cattle, or other animals, in a public pound.
  • noun A charge paid for the release of impounded cattle.
  • noun A sum deducted from a pound, or a certain sum paid for each pound; a commission.
  • noun engraving A subsidy of twelve pence in the pound, formerly granted to the crown on all goods exported or imported, and if by aliens, more.
  • noun (Law) The sum allowed to a sheriff or other officer upon the amount realized by an execution; -- estimated in England, and formerly in the United States, at so much of the pound.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable a charge based on the weight of something in pounds
  • noun countable a charge based on the value of something in pounds sterling
  • noun countable a weight measured in pounds
  • noun countable a fee charged for keeping an animal in a pound, or for its release
  • noun uncountable the keeping of an animal in a pound

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a fee charged for the recovery of impounded animals
  • noun placing private property in the custody of an officer of the law
  • noun weight expressed in pounds
  • noun a charge based on weight measured in pounds

Etymologies

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