binder

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun One that binds, especially a bookbinder.
• noun Something, such as a cord, used to bind.
• noun A notebook cover with rings or clamps for holding sheets of paper.
• noun Something, such as the latex in certain paints, that creates uniform consistency, solidification, or cohesion.
• noun A machine that reaps and ties grain.
• noun An attachment on a reaping machine that ties grain in bundles.
• noun A payment or written statement making an agreement legally binding until the completion of a formal insurance contract.
• noun An agreement specifying the terms and conditions of a real estate transaction.
• noun Ecology A plant, such as a ground cover, whose growth retards erosion.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A person who binds. Specifically— One who binds books; a bookbinder.
• noun One who binds sheaves.
• noun Anything that binds, in any sense of that verb.
• noun In bricklaying, a header which extends partly through a wall; a bonder.
• noun In carpentry, a tie-beam; a binding-joist serving as a transverse support for the bridging-joists above and the ceiling-joists below.
• noun An attachment to a sewing-machine for folding an edge or a binding.
• noun In agriculture: An attachment to a reaper for tying the bundles of grain.
• noun A separate horse-power machine for gathering up and binding grain already cut.
• noun An arrester or stop for the shuttle of a loom.
• noun A temporary cover for loose sheets of music, papers, etc.
• noun plural Same as binding, 4.
• noun In lumbering, a springy pole used to tighten a binding-chain. Also called a jim-binder.
• noun In machinery, a crank-shaft journal-box or bearing on an engine.
• noun In obstetrics, a broad cloth band applied snugly to the abdomen after the termination of labor.
• noun A firm leaf inclosing the filler in a cigar and itself surrounded by the wrapper. It grades, in market value, below the wrapper and above the filler.
• noun Indurated argillaceous shales or clay very commonly forming the roof of a coal-seam and frequently containing clay ironstone.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun One who binds; ; one whose trade is to bind.
• noun Anything that binds, as a fillet, cord, rope, or band; a bandage; -- esp. the principal piece of timber intended to bind together any building.
• noun a pair of stiff oblong covers, sometimes detachable, designed for insertion of paper pages to create a book-like document, such as in a loose-leaf binder.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Someone who binds, particularly someone who binds books; a bookbinder.
• noun A cover or holder for unbound papers, pages etc.
• noun Something that is used to bind things together, often referring to the mechanism that accomplishes this for a book.
• noun programming A software mechanism that performs binding.
• noun A dossier.
• noun agriculture A machine used in harvesting that ties cut stalks of grain into a bundle.
• noun chemistry A chemical that causes two other substances to form into one.
• noun law A down payment on a piece of real property that secures the payor the right to purchase the property from the payee upon an agreement of terms.
• noun Chiefly Minnesota A rubber band.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a machine that cuts grain and binds it in sheaves
• noun something used to bind separate particles together or facilitate adhesion to a surface
• noun holds loose papers or magazines
• noun something used to tie or bind