plural bondages
1
: a state of being bound usually by compulsion (as of law): such as
a
: slavery, serfdom
Historically, the two most prevalent types of legal bondage were serfdom and chattel slavery.—
Michael Bush
Michael BushMore than 150 years after enslaved Africans and their descendants were released from bondage through ratification of the 13th Amendment, the slavery exception continues to permit the exploitation of labor by incarcerated individuals.—Aaron Morrison
Aaron MorrisonIn the Thar desert of Pakistan, generations of families are trapped in debt bondage, forced to work for years in brick kilns to repay loans from the kiln owners.—Isaiah Reynolds et al.
Isaiah Reynolds et al.
b
: servitude or subjugation to a controlling person or force
How can one company control the world's seed supply? When one gigantic corporate entity is allowed to block farmers from planting a seed without compensating that monopoly, the farmers are held in bondage to uncontrolled price increases.—John Boyd
John BoydDo you have the freedom of self-control or are you in bondage to your desires?—David Brooks
David Brooks2
: sadomasochistic sexual practices involving the physical restraint of one partner
Synonyms
Examples of bondage in a Sentence
a population held in bondage
Recent Examples on the Web
With the evening’s dress code including Hollister sweatshirts and bondage gear, the question made the city feel bigger and stranger.
—Chris Richards, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2024
She’s then spotted ripping out her ex lover’s heart from his chest, SZA continues to stun by the end of the music video sans clothing while hanging from the ceiling in the Japanese rope bondage style of Shibari.
—Candace Cordelia, Essence, 21 Dec. 2023
In 2014, Barkas quit academia to become a professional rope bondage artist and educator.
—Hazlitt, 6 Dec. 2023
Jim’s worries for his own family, a wife and child he’s left behind in bondage, must be slotted into the spaces between the boy’s gabbing, his questions, his anxieties.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2024
The wrapping marks, cut into the clay like a memory made concrete, oscillate between signs of painful bondage and a warm embrace, a tension both social and artistic in 1970s Korean culture.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024
After chronicling their perilous and frightening 45-day voyage, the author goes on to describe the sale of the 103 survivors of the journey to various enslavers in Alabama, their five years of bondage, and their hardscrabble lives following emancipation.
—Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2024
Roughly 97% reported experiencing some form of debt bondage or confiscation of documents.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
And at a time in Florida when books are being banned, schools are requiring permission slips for Black history events and the state’s educational standards say that enslaved Africans benefited from their bondage, their purpose has become even more critical.
—C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024
Chris Richards, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2024
She’s then spotted ripping out her ex lover’s heart from his chest, SZA continues to stun by the end of the music video sans clothing while hanging from the ceiling in the Japanese rope bondage style of Shibari.
—Candace Cordelia, Essence, 21 Dec. 2023
In 2014, Barkas quit academia to become a professional rope bondage artist and educator.
—Hazlitt, 6 Dec. 2023
Jim’s worries for his own family, a wife and child he’s left behind in bondage, must be slotted into the spaces between the boy’s gabbing, his questions, his anxieties.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2024
The wrapping marks, cut into the clay like a memory made concrete, oscillate between signs of painful bondage and a warm embrace, a tension both social and artistic in 1970s Korean culture.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024
After chronicling their perilous and frightening 45-day voyage, the author goes on to describe the sale of the 103 survivors of the journey to various enslavers in Alabama, their five years of bondage, and their hardscrabble lives following emancipation.
—Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2024
Roughly 97% reported experiencing some form of debt bondage or confiscation of documents.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
And at a time in Florida when books are being banned, schools are requiring permission slips for Black history events and the state’s educational standards say that enslaved Africans benefited from their bondage, their purpose has become even more critical.
—C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bondage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bondage
Cite this Entry
“Bondage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bondage. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bondage
noun
bond·age
ˈbän-dij 
: the state of being a slave or serf
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share