trapped

[ trapt ]

adjective

1. caught in or as if in a trap or by a ruse, trick, or stratagem:

   Relocate any trapped rabbit at least five miles from the capture site.

   Early in the visit I became the trapped witness to a nasty argument between my host and his wife, which they expected me to arbitrate.

2. (of air, water, etc.) held or contained in an enclosed space or in another substance:

   Make sure the clay is pressed flat, with no trapped air bubbles.

3. accidentally stuck or jammed in a narrow place from which release is difficult:

   This excellent telescopic ladder has finger guards—no more trapped fingers when letting it down!

4. set with traps:

   We followed the track carefully through heavily trapped bush to the meeting place.

5. (of a drain, pipe, or the like) furnished with a device for stopping undesirable substances from flowing through:

   The pipes discharge wastewater into a sewer, usually through a trapped drain.

6. Baseball. (of a ball) caught as it hits the ground:

   Challenges to the umpire included a trapped ball in the outfield that nobody else thought was actually caught.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of trap ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of trapped¹

First recorded in 1425–75; trap ¹( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective senses; trap ¹( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

He was able to pick apart those power plays in the third quarter because of the ineffective traps Los Angeles tried throwing onto Murray, who had dropped 20 points in the second quarter alone.

From FiveThirtyEight

Setting traps can be a useful backup strategy for nourishment in a survival situation, and it frees up your time to accomplish other tasks.

From Popular-Science

I spent the next day digging holes, setting traps, and walking the trap line.

From Popular-Science

Traps with 4VA attracted more locusts than did traps without the pheromone.

From Science News For Students

They might even be able to use those scents to bait the insects into traps.

From Science News For Students

Everybody is trapped in an elevator together and tempers run a little hot.

From The Daily Beast

But when I look out over the crowd now, I also see that they are trapped—trapped by their cowardice.

From The Daily Beast

Imagine living 28 years—your whole life—trapped inside the wrong body.

From The Daily Beast

When I saw the fire in the restaurant, I ran down to the floor below, where I was trapped between flames above and below.

From The Daily Beast

I was definitely concerned [about former colleagues who may have been trapped inside].

From The Daily Beast

To the weakness resulting from loss of blood was added the knowledge that this time he was trapped without hope of escape.

From Project Gutenberg

It was his firm belief that if he, Randulf, had been at home, they should never have trapped Jacob Worse.

From Project Gutenberg

Fool that he had been to come to Condillac that day, and to be trapped thus in her company, a partner in her guilt.

From Project Gutenberg

Whereon the man looked swiftly over his shoulder and saw that he was fairly trapped.

From Project Gutenberg

The arena was crowded with British and Indian cavalry, handsomely trapped in gold and red velvet.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• captured
• cornered