bind over

verb

bound over; binding over; binds over

transitive verb

: to put under a bond to do something (such as to appear in court)

Examples of bind over in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The men were indicted Tuesday and their cases will be bound over to the Clark County Court of Common Pleas and continue there. —Cameron Knight, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025

Sandoval's case was transferred to criminal court in January and bound over to a grand jury, according to court records. —Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 27 Feb. 2025

All of this could leave states — including Connecticut — in a bind over how to move ahead with their own environmental and climate initiatives and mandates. —Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 28 Mar. 2025

Dale Warner was bound over for trial in June of 2024 and his trial for murder is slated to begin on Sept. 2, 2025. —Sarah Prior, CBS News, 31 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bind over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover

Legal Definition

bind over

transitive verb

1

: to put under a bond to do something (as appear in court) under court authority

2

: to transfer (a case or defendant) to another forum after a finding of probable cause at a preliminary hearing

Note: In states that require indictment by a grand jury in felony cases, a case will be bound over to the grand jury if the judge or magistrate finds at the preliminary hearing that there is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed the crime. In states that use an information, the case is bound over to the trial court upon a finding of probable cause.

intransitive verb

: to bind a case over

questioned the magistrate's decision to bind over

bindover noun