Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
boxed in

boxed in

3 6.3
Unable to do things freely because of limits like walls or rules
  • idiom
translation icon : encerrado
  • The children complained they were boxed in by the tall buildings that surrounded the playground.
  • feel boxed in
  • got boxed in

Examples

  • The hikers felt boxed in by the steep cliffs on either side of the narrow valley.

  • So the sodium atom is boxed in by the chlorine atoms.

  • Boxed in by fire and smoke.

    Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)

  • Antiquities dealers say their clients feel boxed in.

    Blog text (6)

  • I see the BIG as boxed in long-term with no great options if (when) this falls through.

    Blog text (25)

  • It depended on the time of day and the number of hours he'd been boxed in an office.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • She was at the rail, boxed in by three horses in front of her and another on her outside, making Alec wonder how the hell she'd be able to get through the traffic when it did come time to make her move.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Such a plan, to be sure, would be unlikely to overthrow Saddam but would help keep him off balance and boxed in, even if sanctions and other current components of containment continue to erode.

    Academic text (1999)

  • As nutag shrank in size, boxed in by increasingly confining administrative boundaries, herders lost access to the diverse habitats and resources that they once relied on.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Boxed in by armed, ruthless men, she could neither lose them nor lie to them—not so long as they had the wolfman to track her and the dwarf to sniff out her lies.

    Fiction book (2001)

Synonyms

cramped
vsboxed in
37 3.2

A space that is too small for people to move easily

focuses on feeling trapped or restricted rather than only small space
cooped up
vsboxed in
  • Informal
28 5.5

Being kept in a small space makes you restless and unhappy

expresses a neutral enclosed state without the added restless feeling
closed-in
vsboxed in
14 4.1

A space surrounded on all sides and not open to the outside

is more the personal feeling of restriction rather than an actual physical blockage
boxed-in
vsboxed in
7 6.3

Feeling trapped by walls or rules that stop you moving

has identical meaning but is commonly written with a hyphen
walled
vsboxed in
7 2.3

Surrounded by walls, like a city or garden

is a broader sense of enclosure not limited to walls alone
boxed
vsboxed in
1 3.9

A part of a page that has a small square or border to make it stand out

suggests a trapped or restricted feeling rather than just a literal border
enclosed
vsboxed in
1 3.5

Something that is inside and surrounded by other things, like a garden or document

emphasizes the sense of being trapped or restricted inside a small area
confined
vsboxed in
3.7

Kept in one small space and unable to leave

conveys a more vivid feeling of being trapped inside an imagined small space
to shut in
vsboxed in
5.1

Surround something completely so it cannot get out or move

focuses on the enclosed feeling rather than absolute prevention of movement
surrounded
vsboxed in
2.7

A person or place with people and things all around

stresses an inner feeling of restriction as if inside narrow limits
encircled
vsboxed in
3.9

Surrounded on all sides by other things, often with no easy way out

is the more general trapped sensation rather than a literal circular enclosure
cornered
vsboxed in
4.5

In a place where you cannot escape and must face someone

conveys enclosed restriction but without the forced confrontation or urgency

Antonyms

free
∞ 1.0

Able to act as you want without limits

unrestricted
24 4.1

Free from limits and control, it allows people to use or access

How Restricted

trapped
4.4
boxed in
3 6.3
confined
3.7
free
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

boxed in positive

Morphology

boxed + in

The adjective 'boxed' (enclosed by a box) combined with the preposition 'in' yields the clear literal sense of being inside a box, so the metaphorical idea of being trapped or restricted follows directly from the constituents. This composition is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common spatial metaphor, so a B1 learner who knows 'boxed' and 'in' should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Boxed in comes from the simple picture of someone stuck inside a small box with no space in to move, like being closed on all sides. That's why we use boxed in to mean 'trapped' or 'having no options'.