ensnare

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
7
Words With Friends
9
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ɛnˈsnɛə/
See all 3 pronunciations
/ɛnˈsnɛə/ · /ɪn-/ · /ɛnˈsnɛ(ə)ɹ/

Definition of ensnare

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. To entrap; to catch in a snare or trap.
    “Let theſe / Inſnare the vvretched in the toils of lavv, / Fomenting diſcord, and perplexing right, / An iron race!”
    “The Geese and the Cranes fed in the same meadow. A birdcatcher came to ensnare them in his nets.”
    “When we were asked to what one should apply the name “what is not”, we were ensnared in total paradox. Remember?”
    “When he spurns her, Julia is outraged to hear it is because she did not measure up to his secret list of 10 bullet-pointed attributes for an ideal bride. To get her own back, she invites her best friend, penniless clergyman’s daughter Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto), up to town to ensnare Malcolm, by faking the 10 comely attributes from his list.”
See all 2 definitions

verb

  1. To entrap; to catch in a snare or trap.
    “Let theſe / Inſnare the vvretched in the toils of lavv, / Fomenting diſcord, and perplexing right, / An iron race!”
    “The Geese and the Cranes fed in the same meadow. A birdcatcher came to ensnare them in his nets.”
    “When we were asked to what one should apply the name “what is not”, we were ensnared in total paradox. Remember?”
    “When he spurns her, Julia is outraged to hear it is because she did not measure up to his secret list of 10 bullet-pointed attributes for an ideal bride. To get her own back, she invites her best friend, penniless clergyman’s daughter Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto), up to town to ensnare Malcolm, by faking the 10 comely attributes from his list.”
  2. (figuratively)To entangle; to enmesh.
    “But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud, and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts.”
    “The gamble proved devastating for millions of people, beyond public figures ensnared in the leak and subsequent media frenzy, including the reality TV star Josh Duggar, the Real Housewives Of New York star Kristen Taekman’s husband and, in an earlier scandal, the politician Eliot Spitzer.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From en- + snare.

Anagrams of ensnare

1 play · all valid Scrabble

Hooks

3 extensions · 3 back

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