tethered

[teth-erd]

adjective

1. fastened or confined with or as if with a rope, chain, or the like to limit the range of movement.

   On this field trip, students will have the opportunity to take a ride in a tethered hot-air balloon.

   Too many lawmakers are partisan, inept, or too lightly tethered to reality.

2. Digital Technology.,  (of an electronic device) used to enable a wireless internet connection on another nearby device, often a laptop.

   You can browse the web more securely using a tethered phone, because your information is being sent directly through the phone rather than over a public wireless hotspot.

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• untethered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tethered¹

tether ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Even as his own dreams are beginning to materialize, Tonatiuh, 30, remains tethered to these places and people.

From Los Angeles Times

“Putting aside the NIL agreements, the question of whether a player’s time has run remains in full force. The eligibility question is not tethered to the question of compensation or commercial transaction.”

From Los Angeles Times

Researchers used a special coring drill - a bit like a huge apple-corer - tethered to a research ship, to drill at depths of up to 500m.

From BBC

The fortunes of the tech giants seemed more tethered than ever to their commitment to AI spending, as evidenced by the series of blowout results revealed this past tech earnings season.

From BBC

HM Coastguard Fleetwood said rescuers entered the water tethered to each other as they rescued the casualty.

From BBC

Related Words

• barred 
• blocked 
• closed 
• confined 
• controlled 
• defined 
• deprived 
• prescribed 
• reduced 
• restrained 
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