Crossword clues for spellbind
spellbind
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spellbind \Spell"bind`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spellbound; p. pr. & vb. n. Spellbinding.] To bind or hold by, or as if by, a spell or charm; to entrance or fascinate, esp. by eloquence of speech, as in a political campaign. -- Spell"bind`er, n.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"to bind by or as if by spell," 1808, probably a back-formation from spellbound. Related: Spellbinding; spellbinder.
Wiktionary
vb. To attract one's attention as if by a magic spell.
WordNet
v. to render motionless, as with a fixed stare or by arousing terror or awe; "The snake charmer fascinates the cobra" [syn: fascinate, transfix, grip]
attract strongly, as if with a magnet; "She magnetized the audience with her tricks" [syn: magnetize, mesmerize, mesmerise, magnetise, bewitch]
put into a trance [syn: entrance]
[also: spellbound]
Usage examples of "spellbind".
They used wedges of a flat, unleavened bread to sop up the gravy and smaller bits of savory meat while Riane held them spellbound as she told her fabulous tale.
The Kru boy, shrinking away from the dark muzzle of that motionless revolver, was spellbound with fear.
The analogy seemed so perfect and so poetic that Lord Marchman stopped, spellbound by his own phrasing, and put the fishing pole down.
Mary had the expression that his mama must have worn when as a seventeen-year-old shopgirl in Troyl she had no money for the movies, but made up for it by gazing spellbound at posters of Asta Nielsen.
Apparently he had preyed on nearby farms and caravans using spellbound robbers.
But I was spellbound, and remained listening to the heavy munch of blood-stained jaws until presently I was aware other and lesser feasters were coming.
But from the fluctuations of his hormone levels I could tell that he was spellbound, utterly fascinated, when I spoke of the way time explorers, reporting on their experiences, are able to recapture the past and make it seem to live again.
Spellbound, the circle of pupils watched him with nary a titter at the appearance of an old and overweight wizard trying to tiptoe like an actor overplaying the part of a skulking thief.
Spellbound, she forgot about safety lines and towlines, for she saw a multibranched lightning tree etch itself between stars.
Kelgrael Snowsar rewarded them for their deeds with the titles of Overdukes of Aglirta, in the same wise as he made the returned Baron Blackgult Regent of Aglirta, ere returning to his spellbound Slumber-for only when Kelgrael slept could his age-old foe, the fell and most mighty archwizard remembered by men only as the Serpent, be held also asleep, and away from the world he so desired to rule.
Later, when the aurorae were replaced in northern skies by autumn's placid constellations, those same gates were flung back for children to scamper through at will, running along the docks where bearded males unloaded mysterious cargoes, or played spellbinding games with clockwork disks.
Orphans and spellbound princes, betrayals and sacrifices, evil intent and lost loves.
The information was not quite up-to-date, but the adventures of the first ballooners held me positively spellbound!
In a storm of proffered adjectives I stood in the piazza and watched spellbound as the Great Council of Venice marched along the Molo, as the High Mass was sung from the altar of San Marco, as the ships moved out on the glassy waves of the Adriatic, as the brushes dipped to gather up their colors and mix them in the earthen potsrose madder, vermilion, carmine, cerise, cerulean, turquoise, viridian, yellow ocher, burnt umber, quinacridone, citrine, sepia, Caput Mortuum Violet oh, too lovelyand of a thick lacquer, the name Dragon's blood.
Roland was making his revelations with a lawyer's innate skill, though in truth the clumsiest of speakers could have held the room spellbound.