The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lb_f,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system.

Pound-force should not be confused with pound-mass (lb), often simply called "pound", which is a unit of mass; nor should these be confused with foot-pound (ft⋅lbf), a unit of energy, or pound-foot (lbf⋅ft), a unit of torque.

The pound-force is equal to the gravitational force exerted on a mass of one avoirdupois pound on the surface of Earth. Since the 18th century, the unit has been used in low-precision measurements, for which small changes in Earth's gravity (which varies from equator to pole by up to half a percent) can safely be neglected.

The 20th century, however, brought the need for a more precise definition, requiring a standardized value for acceleration due to gravity.

The pound-force is the product of one avoirdupois pound (exactly 0.45359237 kg) and the standard acceleration due to gravity, approximately 32.174049 ft/s² (9.80665 m/s²).

The standard values of acceleration of the standard gravitational field (g_n) and the international avoirdupois pound (lb) result in a pound-force equal to 32.174049 ⁠ft⋅lb/s²⁠ (4.4482216152605 N).

$${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}1\,{\text{lbf}}&=1\,{\text{lb}}\times g_{\text{n}}\\&=1\,{\text{lb}}\times 9.80665\,{\tfrac {\text{m}}{{\text{s}}^{2}}}/0.3048\,{\tfrac {\text{m}}{\text{ft}}}\\&\approx 1\,{\text{lb}}\times 32.174049\,\mathrm {\tfrac {ft}{s^{2}}} \\&\approx 32.174049\,\mathrm {\tfrac {ft{\cdot }lb}{s^{2}}} \\1\,{\text{lbf}}&=1\,{\text{lb}}\times 0.45359237\,{\tfrac {\text{kg}}{\text{lb}}}\times g_{\text{n}}\\&=0.45359237\,{\text{kg}}\times 9.80665\,{\tfrac {\text{m}}{{\text{s}}^{2}}}\\&=4.4482216152605\,{\text{N}}\end{aligned}}}$$

This definition can be rephrased in terms of the slug. A slug has a mass of 32.174049 lb. A pound-force is the amount of force required to accelerate a slug at a rate of 1 ft/s², so: