contained

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of contain.

   The committee's report contained several factual errors.

   The leak was contained within minutes by the emergency crew.

   Note

   One regular -ed spelling does two jobs. On its own it is the simple past (the box contained rat poison). After have or be it is the participle (has contained, was contained). The passive reads most naturally with the restraining meaning, as when a leak or an outbreak was contained. An obsolete intransitive use once meant "restrained desire" or "lived chastely" and took no object at all.

2. 2
   adjective

   Held or restricted within a limited area or boundary.

   The experiment ran inside a contained chamber to prevent contamination.

   Floodwater remained contained behind the levee throughout the night.

   Similarenclosed, confined, sealed, restricted, controlled

   Oppositeuncontained, unconfined

   Note

   Firefighting gives this adjective its clearest home. A contained fire is held within its lines, still burning but no longer spreading, and left to burn itself out. It grades like a true adjective (more contained, most contained), and that separates it from the past participle. "The fire was contained by noon" reports an action, while "the fire is now contained" describes a state.

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