What does "wounded" mean?

1. (physically injured) hurt by a weapon or in an accident, often with a cut or a hole in the skin. 2. (emotionally hurt) feeling upset or offended because someone was unkind to you. 3. (injured people) people who have been hurt, especially in a war. 4. (particle physics) describes a tiny particle that has hit something and lost some of its energy.

How do you use "wounded"?

Always used with 'the' to refer to a group of people.

wounded

adj. · n.

US //ˈwundɪd// UK //wˈuːndɪd// wound·ed

1 physically injured (adj.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

hurt by a weapon or in an accident, often with a cut or a hole in the skin.

suffering from a physical injury, typically one involving a breach of the skin or tissue caused by an external weapon or force.

Example

The wounded soldiers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Example

The medics worked tirelessly to stabilise the wounded survivors before the transport helicopters arrived at the crash site.
- unharmed
- healthy
2 emotionally hurt (adj.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

feeling upset or offended because someone was unkind to you.

suffering from emotional or psychological distress, often due to a perceived insult or betrayal.

Example

He had a wounded look on his face after she criticised his work.

Example

She spoke in a wounded tone, clearly affected by the committee's sudden dismissal of her long-term project.
- indifferent

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3 injured people (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

people who have been hurt, especially in a war.

a collective plural noun referring to people who have sustained injuries, particularly in a military or disaster context.

Example

The wounded were moved away from the front lines as quickly as possible.

Example

International aid organisations prioritised the evacuation of the wounded, as the local clinics were no longer able to provide surgical care.

Usage

Always used with 'the' to refer to a group of people.
- the injured
- casualties
4 particle physics (adj.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Science

describes a tiny particle that has hit something and lost some of its energy.

referring to a particle that has undergone an inelastic collision, resulting in a change of state or energy loss.

Example

The experiment tracked how the wounded particles moved after the collision.

Example

In high-energy physics, the wounded nucleon model is used to describe the participants in a heavy-ion collision.