to ensnare

Examples

• All

• Cults are seen as objectionable because they ensnare participants in false beliefs and values.

  Academic text (1995)

• Townspeople discovered that they could ensnare tourists if they established free campgrounds at their gateways.

  Academic text (1998)

• Good Lord, I forgot... you have ensnared my brother.

  Belle (2013)

• Why has he thus ensnared my soul and body?

  Academic text (2005)

• And plotting to ensnare our last four senators.

  Miss Sloane (2016)

• You just want to ensnare them in your primitive superstition.

  God's Not Dead (2014)

• I've been ensnared by my own handiwork.

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)

• These laws were designed to ensnare high-level drug traffickers to get them to snitch on other traffickers in order to reduce their own sentence.

  Snitch (2013)

• Our spiritual foes are of the serpent's brood and seek to ensnare us by subtlety.

  Blog text (1)

• The clever magician used his tricks to ensnare the audience's attention.

Synonyms

T

to trap

vsto ensnare

550 2.6

To catch and hold someone or something so they cannot leave

often relies on trickery or a difficult situation to make escape hard

S

to set up

vsto ensnare

343 6.2

To trick someone so they appear guilty by using false evidence

is more general, covering many trapping methods beyond framing or false guilt

C

to catch

vsto ensnare

274 2.1

To become stuck when something hooks on another thing

normally involves deliberate trickery or creating a difficult situation rather than mere accident

B

to bait

vsto ensnare

26 3.2

To use something to lure a person, animal or fish into a trap

is broader, covering both luring methods and other deceptive or trapping situations

S

to snare

vsto ensnare

19 5.6

To catch something, often by using a trap or a trick

is broader, often implying trickery or a problematic situation rather than only device

E

to entrap

vsto ensnare

18 7.2

To catch a person or animal by tricking them so they cannot escape

is similar but can also mean general trapping beyond pure deception

E

to enmesh

vsto ensnare

6 7.8

To catch something in a net or a difficult situation

leans more toward deliberate deception or a planned method of trapping

E

to entangle

vsto ensnare

4 6.3

Involve someone in a difficult situation they cannot easily get out of

tends to emphasise active catching often through trickery rather than mere difficulty

F

to fall into a trap

vsto ensnare

2 4.1

Become tricked into a bad or dangerous situation

is usually more active, involving deliberate trickery or planned entrapment

S

to springe

vsto ensnare

• Archaic

1 9.9

To catch animals or people with a snare

is broader, including catching by trickery or by creating a trapped situation

G

to gin

vsto ensnare

• Archaic

1 9.9

To catch animals or people with a slip noose trap

is not limited to devices and often involves trickery or difficult situations

T

to trammel

vsto ensnare

• Formal

1 9.9

To limit someone's freedom or ability to act

adds the idea of deliberate trickery or creating an inescapable situation

E

to ensnarl

vsto ensnare

1 9.3

To catch something in a net or trap so it cannot move

focuses more on deliberate trickery or creating a hard situation rather than mere tangling

Antonyms

R

to release

∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

L

to liberate

202 4.3

Set someone free from prison or unfair control

How Trapped

to ensnare

11 7.7

to trap

550 2.6

to snare

19 5.6

to catch

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology