swaddle

verb

swad·​dle ˈswä-dᵊl 

swaddled; swaddling

ˈswäd-liŋ,

ˈswä-dᵊl-iŋ 

transitive verb

1

a

: to wrap (an infant) with swaddling clothes

b

: envelop, swathe

legs swaddled in bandages

2

: restrain, restrict

marriage … swaddled him in a domesticity he came to loathe

—Nina Auerbach

Examples of swaddle in a Sentence

He swaddled the baby in a blanket.

Recent Examples on the Web

Plus, the PJs are oh-so-soft and the dreamy modal cotton ones below are marked down from $60 to $39 which is a (relatively) small price to pay to feel like you're swaddled in a cloud. —Brie Schwartz, Glamour, 28 Nov. 2024

Daphna told her that May liked being swaddled, so now Annie swaddled her. —Julia Whelan Krish Seenivasan Lance Neal, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2024

Then a smuggler sealed him into a trailer, swaddled within sound-muffling insulation beneath a murderous Texan sun. —Kayla Aletha Welch, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024

Other photos showed the three Sorrentino siblings sitting together on a fuzzy carpet, with Luna swaddled in a white knit blanket. —Staff Author, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English swadelen, swathelen, probably alteration of swedelen, swethelen, from swethel swaddling band, from Old English; akin to Old English swathian to swathe

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

swaddle

verb

swad·​dle ˈswäd-ᵊl 

swaddled; swaddling ˈswäd-liŋ 

-ᵊl-iŋ

: to wrap an infant with swaddling clothes