1
as in tangled
to catch or hold as if in a net
an ambitious young man who was now trapped in a series of shady business deals
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in grabbed
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly
finally trapped the annoying fly in the palm of his hand
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in bound
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of trapped
Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Multiple victims remain trapped inside the church as a fire had spread across the building, with manpower shortages noted as a limiting factor.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025
However, while trapped ions are already being brought onto chips, other components (vacuum cell, trapping hardware, and atom source) that require large numbers of atoms are still harder to miniaturize.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025
Dali later left Gaza to chase Paralympic dreams abroad, even as his wife and children remained trapped.
—Callum McLennan, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
In children, mucus can become trapped in the bronchioles—some of the tiniest airways in the lungs—and prevent the lungs from exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide, says James Campbell, vice chair of the committee on infectious diseases at the American Academy of Pediatrics.
—Liz Szabo, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2025
Many ask themselves why Lebanon and Syria should remain trapped in the habits of the last few decades.
—semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Some even begin to feel trapped.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
In the Darnytskyi district, a five-floor building was partly destroyed, and rescue teams were searching the rubble for trapped people, Tkachenko said.
—Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 4 Oct. 2025
Grain bins and silos can be extremely deadly if people get trapped inside.
—Kelli Arseneau, jsonline.com, 3 Oct. 2025
If you are trapped by moving water, move to the highest possible point and call 911 if possible.
—Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Instead of donning a perfectly intact hairdo, Kravitz opted for the undone aesthetic; her hair was halfway trapped under the collar of her windbreaker.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
His most recent film for Amazon was Thirteen Lives, which told the incredible rescue of the youth soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court by Carl and Noelle Tsukahara, claims their daughter survived the initial collision with only minor injuries but died from smoke inhalation and burns after becoming trapped inside the vehicle.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2025
The climber was reportedly trapped by snowfall for 16 hours.
—Gabrielle Rockson, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
The group was trapped, and broke a lock off the window of a nearby church to take refuge for two nights until the National Guard came to help them.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
Every year, tens of thousands of people land on England’s shores in small boats and become trapped in administrative limbo – often housed in hotels while their asylum claims are processed.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Multiple victims remain trapped inside the church as a fire had spread across the building, with manpower shortages noted as a limiting factor.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025
However, while trapped ions are already being brought onto chips, other components (vacuum cell, trapping hardware, and atom source) that require large numbers of atoms are still harder to miniaturize.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025
Dali later left Gaza to chase Paralympic dreams abroad, even as his wife and children remained trapped.
—Callum McLennan, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
In children, mucus can become trapped in the bronchioles—some of the tiniest airways in the lungs—and prevent the lungs from exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide, says James Campbell, vice chair of the committee on infectious diseases at the American Academy of Pediatrics.
—Liz Szabo, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2025
Many ask themselves why Lebanon and Syria should remain trapped in the habits of the last few decades.
—semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Some even begin to feel trapped.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
In the Darnytskyi district, a five-floor building was partly destroyed, and rescue teams were searching the rubble for trapped people, Tkachenko said.
—Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
If you are trapped by moving water, move to the highest possible point and call 911 if possible.
—Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 4 Oct. 2025
Grain bins and silos can be extremely deadly if people get trapped inside.
—Kelli Arseneau, jsonline.com, 3 Oct. 2025
If you are trapped by moving water, move to the highest possible point and call 911 if possible.
—Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Instead of donning a perfectly intact hairdo, Kravitz opted for the undone aesthetic; her hair was halfway trapped under the collar of her windbreaker.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
His most recent film for Amazon was Thirteen Lives, which told the incredible rescue of the youth soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court by Carl and Noelle Tsukahara, claims their daughter survived the initial collision with only minor injuries but died from smoke inhalation and burns after becoming trapped inside the vehicle.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2025
The climber was reportedly trapped by snowfall for 16 hours.
—Gabrielle Rockson, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
The group was trapped, and broke a lock off the window of a nearby church to take refuge for two nights until the National Guard came to help them.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trapped
Verb
-
Office furniture and bags of tea were strewn along the Swannanoa River and left tangled in trees.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Opponents of the Houston South Project, who have been tangled up in a legal battle with the United States Forest Service since 2020, say this ruling is a meaningful step in the right direction.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The incident occurred near 87th Avenue and Van Buren Street when a man grabbed a girl by the arm.—
Wren Smetana,
AZCentral.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Riddle then grabbed Quirke by the collar and threw him down onto a table before walking off the set with a TMZ championship belt.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Naked people are collared, bound, prodded, whipped, ridden like horses, roasted over spits.—
Michael Robbins,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
-
With Freakier Friday hitting theaters, we’re all bound to be hit by a wave of nostalgia.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
In this version, Washington stars as the head of Stackin’ Records, who gets entrapped in a ransom plot.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
If caught in a rip current, remain calm.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Oct. 2025
-
This Trendy Queen cardigan caught my attention, since it can be layered with a variety of tops and even styled alone.—
Genevieve Cepeda,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In Marx’s terms, enslaved workers actually represent variable capital in the production process.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Sep. 2025
-
Historians’ research on smallpox and slavery, for example, has found that inoculation was widely accepted and practiced by West Africans by the early 1700s, and that enslaved people brought the practice to the Colonies.—
Stacie Kershner,
The Conversation,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The separation comes five years after the couple were ensnared in the college admissions scandal, pleading guilty to wire and mail fraud related to paying hundreds of thousands in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.—
Brie Stimson , Larry Fink,
FOXNews.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Former host Burton has tried to reboot Reading Rainbow himself in the past — but became ensnared in legal challenges with the local PBS station within Buffalo Toronto Public Media.—
Anastasia Tsioulcas,
NPR,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
At the beginning of this year, China’s AI model DeepSeek captured global attention for its low development cost and strong performance.—
,
CNBC,
8 Oct. 2025
-
After the discovery, the European Space Agency's Planetary Defense Office quickly mobilized and captured follow-up observations from Australia, using a telescope in the Las Cumbres Observatory network.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trapped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trapped. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share