indenture - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

An indenture is a formal legal agreement. Many earned passage to the British colonies by indenturing, or selling, themselves to a master for a period of seven years–-they were called indentured laborers.

Indenture can describe what you owe to someone else. If you promised your friend you would take her shopping for a prom dress, you might fulfill your indenture over the course of three trips to the mall. A detention is an indenture of a kind––for your crime, you owe time.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: indenture

1	n v	formal agreement between the issuer of bonds and the bondholders as to terms of the debt bind by or as if by indentures, as of an apprentice or servant
2	n	a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline)
3	n	the space left between the margin and the start of an indented line

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: indenture

1

n formal agreement between the issuer of bonds and the bondholders as to terms of the debt

Type of:: written agreement
a legal document summarizing the agreement between parties

n a contract binding one party into the service of another for a specified term

Type of:: contract
a binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law

v bind by or as if by indentures, as of an apprentice or servant

“an indentured servant”

Synonyms:: indent

Type of:: bind, hold, obligate, oblige
bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted

2

n a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline)

Synonyms:: indentation

Types:: show 7 types...; hide 7 types...; notch
a V-shaped or U-shaped indentation carved or scratched into a surface; notch
a V-shaped indentation; cleft
a split or indentation in something (as the palate or chin); serration
a single notch in a row of notches; thumb index
one of a series of rounded notches in the fore edge of a book to indicate sections; undercut
a notch cut in the trunk of tree in order to determine the direction of its fall; incisura, incisure
(anatomy) a notch or small hollow

Type of:: concave shape, concavity, incurvation, incurvature
a shape that curves or bends inward

3

n the space left between the margin and the start of an indented line

Synonyms:: indent, indentation, indention

Type of:: blank space, place, space
a blank area