bondage

noun

bond·​age ˈbän-dij 

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

More 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

In 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.

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

Do you have the freedom of self-control or are you in bondage to your desires?

—David Brooks

2

: sadomasochistic sexual practices involving the physical restraint of one partner

Synonyms

• slavery
• thraldom

Examples of bondage in a Sentence

a population held in bondage

Recent Examples on the Web

After depositing their burdens, if not already in bondage, they often were sold into slavery. —Anthony R. Cannella, Hartford Courant, 13 June 2025

Was Ginestra surprised at how readily Halsey took to the ideas for a bondage segment? —Chris Willman, Variety, 8 June 2025

Other parts of the U.K.’s immigration system have been criticized as well, including the Seasonal Worker Visa scheme, which NGOs say leaves people open to various forms of exploitation, debt bondage and forced labor. —Frey Lindsay, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025

The name Maroon is a reference to the Maroons of Jamaica—descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped bondage and created self-sufficient communities in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains. —David Morris, Travel + Leisure, 20 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from bonde customary tenant, from Middle English

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bondage

noun

bond·​age ˈbän-dij 

: the state of being an enslaved person or serf