bound up in

Idioms  

1. Also, bound up with. Deeply or inextricably involved in. For example, Obviously the candidate was bound up with the negotiations on the party platform, or She is bound up in her church activities. This usage appears in the Bible (Genesis 44:30): “His life is bound up in the lad's life.” [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bound up in

The 65-year-old is single with no children, and bound up in that choice over who should make financial decisions on her behalf are other big questions that are often intensified when aging alone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026

The 19th century gets bound up in the idea of progress, and increasingly that comes to mean technological progress.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2025

There are no other firms left bidding for the contract, but the deal is all now bound up in the government's review of defence spending, and procurement.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025

The power of Stone’s music is bound up in his private pain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2025

They still feel somehow in transit, still disconnected from their lives, bound up in an alternate schedule, an intimacy only the four of them share.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri