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.

---

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

Example Sentences

New Zealand received a spark from an unlikely source when Mitchell trapped Greaves lbw for 43, just his fourth Test wicket in his 35th match.

From Barron's

"Twenty-eight of our colleagues were trapped in the rooftop of the building for hours... They were gasping for fresh air," Ahmed said.

From BBC

Troops were deployed to the scene, while firefighters rescued journalists trapped inside the building.

From BBC

In addition to getting you where you want to go, those hours spent on a plane — or trapped at the airport — are a guilt-free opportunity to catch up on or revisit great movies and shows.

From Los Angeles Times

The UN estimates roughly 250,000 people were still trapped in the city, with less than half of that number thought to have arrived in external camps for displaced people.

From BBC

Related Words

• captured
• cornered