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snowbound

snowbound

4 5.2
Unable to leave a place because heavy snow blocks roads
  • adjective
  • /ˈsnoʊˌbaʊnd/
  • UK
translation icon : atrapado por la nieve
  • We were snowbound for two whole days.
  • snowbound cars
  • snowbound cabin
  • snowbound mountains

Examples

  • It was winter, and we were snowbound and in the middle of a blizzard.

    Blog text (34)
  • We had been snowbound for almost three weeks, and today's sky showed no signs of letting up.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • March, and much of the north remains snowbound

  • They got snowbound one winter in the mountains.

  • No immediate snow was predicted, but Mom envisioned the two of us snowbound in Kilburn, trapped until the spring thaw.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • When Packer stumbled, alone, into the Los Pinos Indian Agency after 57 days in the snowbound mountains, all he wanted was a good, stiff drink.

    Academic text (2002)
  • As he watched, sunlight broke through the parting tufts of cloud and spotted the snowbound land in patches of gleaming white bright enough to hurt the eye.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • We were trapped and snowbound in our cabin for the entire weekend.

  • The small village became completely snowbound, leaving residents unable to leave their homes.

  • Due to the blizzard, many travelers were snowbound overnight at the airport.

Synonyms

snowed in
vssnowbound
  • UK
9 3.4

Not able to leave a place because heavy snow blocks the roads

has identical meaning but appears as a single adjective form
ice-clogged
vssnowbound
  • UK
7.1

A place where ice blocks the way so people or vehicles cannot move through

is confinement caused by snow rather than by frozen water
icebound
vssnowbound
7.7

Thick ice surrounds ships and harbors, stopping boats and blocking access

is about being held by snow rather than enclosed by frozen sea
stormbound
vssnowbound
7.9

Unable to leave a place because of a storm

is confinement specifically due to heavy snow rather than any storm
frost-bound
vssnowbound
  • UK
7.6

Land made hard and frozen so people and vehicles cannot pass

is being shut in by deep snow rather than by frozen ground
weather-bound
vssnowbound
  • Specialized
8.2

Unable to leave or move because of bad weather

is limited to confinement caused specifically by heavy snow rather than any weather

Antonyms

280 3.9

A place, thing, or service that you can reach and use easily

How Trapped

stranded
3 4.0
snowbound
  • UK
4 5.2
stuck
1.0
delayed
1 1.3
mobile
81 2.7

Surface Forms

snowbound positive

Morphology

snowbound = snow + bound (transparent) = snow + bound

The meaning is a direct combination of 'snow' + 'bound' (confined by snow), which a learner who knows both words can infer.

Etymology

Snowbound is made from the two parts snow and bound, where bound means 'kept' or 'held in place'. Picture a road or small village tied up by deep snow so people cannot leave, so snowbound means unable to leave because the snow keeps you inside.