Synonyms

trapped

American

[trapt] / træpt /

adjective

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.
(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.
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!
set with traps.

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

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

On Tuesday, HormuzTracker, which provides a Strait of Hormuz shipping-disruption dashboard, showed that there are around 2,500 vessels still trapped inside the Persian Gulf, with 400 waiting outside of the strait.

From MarketWatch

The bus was transporting Metro maintenance workers back to their bus division when it became trapped, according to a Metro spokesperson.

From Los Angeles Times

Night-time footage released by the Iranian Red Crescent shows rescuers removing fallen masonry to try to reach Berivan's trapped mother as she begs to know: "Is my daughter alive?"

From BBC

The amount of heat trapped by the Earth reached record levels in 2025, with the consequences of such warming feared to last for thousands of years, the UN warned Monday.

From Barron's

Some of the extra energy trapped by these gases warms the atmosphere and the land, as well as melting the planet's ice.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023