Definition of "ligature" []

• The act of tying or binding. (noun)
• A cord, wire, or bandage used for tying or binding. (noun)
• A thread, wire, or cord used in surgery to close vessels or tie off ducts. (noun)
• Something that unites; a bond. (noun)
• A character, letter, or type, such as æ, combining two or more letters. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "When the scion and the stock have been both chosen, they are cut slantingly, so that one may fit into the other; and care being taken that the bark and soft wood of the two unite, at least on one side, the two pieces are bound together, and the ligature is covered with what is called grafting clay, that is, a mixture of stiff clay, with a fourth part of fresh horse-dung, and a small quantity of cut hay."
• "Once the reader figures out the notion of ligature itself thee are all manner of burbling connective pleasures."
• "And since the latter current escapes from the arm by the opening made in one of the veins, there must of necessity be certain passages below the ligature, that is, towards the extremities of the arm through which it can come thither from the arteries."