French word

bonder

Pronunciation

IPA/bɔ̃de/

Meaning

  • verbbe crowded

Example

Le métro bondait ce matin.

The subway was crowded this morning.

Illustration for bonder (be crowded)

More examples

Le cinéma bondait hier soir.

The movie theater was crowded last night.

Core concept

A passage packed with people until movement in and out becomes difficult.

Similar words

se remplir: Become filled with people or things until full.
se bousculer: Jostle and push against one another while moving.
se masser: Gather tightly in large numbers in one place.

Definition in French

Signaler qu'une zone devient saturée de personnes, rendant difficile l'entrée et la circulation.

Word origin

Bonder is a verb formed from the adjective bondé with the productive ending -er, meaning that a place becomes bondé.

Usage tips

  • In this crowding sense, bonder is usually intransitive, as in Le métro bondait ce matin, while bondé is more common in everyday speech.

Other meanings

  • be packedverb
  • be crammedverb

Opposites

  • se viderempty outverb

Related words

  • bondécrowdedadjective

Word lists with this word