trap1

 
Pronunciation: /trap/

noun

  • 1a device or enclosure designed to catch and retain animals, typically by allowing entry but not exit or by catching hold of a part of the body: the squirrels ravaged the saplings, despite the baited traps a bear trap
  • the compartment from which a greyhound is released at the start of a race.
  • 2a situation in which people lie in wait to make a surprise attack: police deliberately herded 400 demonstrators into a trap and then attacked and arrested them
  • a trick by which someone is misled into acting contrary to their interests or intentions: by keeping quiet I was walking into a trap
  • an unpleasant situation from which it is hard to escape: they fell into the trap of relying too little on equity finance
  • 3 [with modifier] a container or device used to collect something, or a place where something collects: one fuel filter and water trap are sufficient on the fuel system
  • a curve in the waste pipe from a bath, basin, or toilet that is always full of liquid and prevents gases from coming up the pipe into the building.
  • a bunker or other hollow on a golf course.
  • 4a light, two-wheeled carriage pulled by a horse or pony.
  • 5a device for hurling an object such as a clay pigeon into the air to be shot at.
  • historical (in the game of trapball) the shoe-shaped device that is hit with a bat to send the ball into the air.
  • 7 informal a person’s mouth (used in expressions to do with speaking): keep your trap shut!
  • 8 (traps) informal (among jazz musicians) drums or percussion instruments: I played the traps a little myself once

verb (traps, trapping, trapped)

[with object]
  • 1catch (an animal) in a trap.
  • prevent (someone) from escaping from a place: twenty workers were trapped by flames
  • have (something, typically a part of the body) held tightly by something so that it cannot be freed: he had trapped his finger in a spring-loaded hinge
  • Soccer bring (the ball) under control with the foot or other part of the body on receiving it: the ball bounced near Scott and he trapped it with his left foot
  • 2trick or deceive (someone) into doing something contrary to their interests or intentions: I hoped to trap him into an admission

Derivatives

trap-like

adjective

Origin:

Old English træppe (in coltetræppe 'Christ's thorn'); related to Middle Dutch trappe and medieval Latin trappa, of uncertain origin. The verb dates from late Middle English