Definition of "bondage" []

• The state of one who is bound as a slave or serf. (noun)
• A state of subjection to a force, power, or influence. (noun)
• The practice of being physically restrained, as with cords or handcuffs, as a means of attaining sexual gratification. (noun)
• Villeinage. (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.

• "Does this falsify the declarations of Scripture, that 'they sighed by reason of their bondage,' and that the Egyptians 'made them serve _with rigor_,' and made 'their lives bitter with _hard bondage_.'"
• "“Mu’attik al-Rikáb” i.e. who frees those in bondage from the yoke."
• "This was an entirely new punishment for people who, when they were in a state of what was called bondage, thought nothing was shameful or “illegitimate” about unmarried parents."