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bound up in

Idioms

Also, bound up with. Deeply or inextricably involved in. For example, Obviously the candidate was bound up with the negotiations on the party platform, or She is bound up in her church activities. This usage appears in the Bible (Genesis 44:30): “His life is bound up in the lad's life.” [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s also because we have this system where a lot of those regulatory pressures are bound up in the way that the media is built.

From Slate • Feb. 24, 2026

Halloween, for all its associations with extremes of terror, is also bound up in the cozy innocence of childhood memories, and to my mind, few movies fit that duality better than “The Fog.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025

My point is the fear bound up in vanity.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2024

A different kind of daring filled Harris Reed's opening day collection at the Tate Britain, bound up in eccentric couture that simply couldn't be ignored.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2024

“The Danvers found over a dozen sheep dead and bound up in fence wire.”

From "Worth" by A. LaFaye

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023