tethered

/ˈtɛðərd/

Tethered describes something that's tied up, like a horse that's tethered to a fence or a dog that's tethered to the person who is walking it.

Whenever you confine a person or an animal to keep them in one place, they're tethered. A bank robber might leave his hostages tethered together in the vault, and you might keep your fence-jumping dog tethered to the porch when she's out in your yard. The root word is the Old Norse tjoðr, tether, which was used only as a noun to describe the rope that ties animals until the late 15th century, when the verb form developed.

Definitions of tethered

1. adjective

   confined or restricted with or as if with a rope or chain
   synonyms:

   bound

   confined by bonds