trapped

American  

[trapt] / træpt /

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.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of trap

Etymology

Origin of trapped

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trapped

Within this range, vortices could flow freely along the steps without becoming trapped by imperfections in the material.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Eventually plants trapped so much carbon dioxide, which is necessary for photosynthesis, that CO2 levels in the atmosphere plummeted by 90%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The first consisted of qubits encoded in the internal states of trapped ions, which are electrically charged atoms held in place using electromagnetic fields.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Washington Post team was honoured for telling the story of a Ukrainian soldier trapped in a combat zone for 177 days.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

“A tree branch is trapped in the blades, and I’ve loosened it a bit, but if we give it more time the water will soak it and then I can easily pull it out.”

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

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Related Words

• captured
• cornered

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