Strapped

How to spell strapped

8 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce strapped

What does strapped mean?

1. verbSecured, tied, or fastened in place using a strap or straps.
2. adjectiveHaving very little money available; financially pinched.

Strapped in a sentence

• verb

  The luggage was strapped tightly to the roof rack for the long drive.

• adjective

  After paying the deposit, they were completely strapped until payday.

• verb

  She strapped the toddler into the car seat before pulling away.

• adjective

  Many young graduates feel strapped for cash in their first year of work.

Where does strapped come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The base word strap is a dialect variant of strop, which came into Old English from the Latin stroppus, meaning a band, thong, or twisted cord. The Latin term itself was probably borrowed from the Greek strophos, a twisted band or cord, related to strephein, meaning 'to twist or turn'. For centuries a strap was simply a narrow strip of leather used to bind, hold, or hang things, and from the 1600s the verb 'to strap' meant to fasten or beat with such a strip. The participle strapped picked up its modern figurative sense of being short of money in the 1800s, the idea being that a person was bound tight or pinched, as if cinched by a strap. The doubled p in the spelling follows the regular English rule that a short stressed vowel before a single final consonant doubles that consonant before -ed.

How the word is built

• strap (a strip of leather or fabric for fastening)
• -ped (past-tense/participle suffix, with the final consonant doubled after a short stressed vowel)