entrap
Americanverb (used with object)
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to catch in or as in a trap; ensnare.
The hunters used nets to entrap the lion.
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to bring unawares into difficulty or danger.
He entrapped himself in the web of his own lies.
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to lure into performing an act or making a statement that is compromising or illegal.
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to draw into contradiction or damaging admission.
The questioner entrapped her into an admission of guilt.
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Law. to catch by entrapment.
verb
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to catch or snare in or as if in a trap
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to lure or trick into danger, difficulty, or embarrassment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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entrapsimple
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entrapssimple
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have entrappedperfect
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has entrappedperfect
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am entrappingprogressive
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are entrappingprogressive
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is entrappingprogressive
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have been entrappingperfect progressive
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has been entrappingperfect progressive
Past
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entrappedsimple
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had entrappedperfect
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was entrappingprogressive
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were entrappingprogressive
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had been entrappingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of entrap
From the Middle French word entraper, dating back to 1525–35. See en- 1, trap 1
Explanation
If you entrap someone, you entangle or snare them, as if you'd caught them in a trap. Your family might entrap you in their elaborate summer plans, despite your wish to take a vacation all by yourself. The expectations of other people — or your own high standards — can entrap you into the feeling you should always do well in school or pursue material success. Another way one person might entrap another is more deliberate, by setting a trap or playing a trick. A police officer might entrap a suspect, persuading him to commit a crime in order to make an arrest. The Old French root is entraper, "catch in a trap."
Vocabulary lists containing entrap
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Chip makers use it as a carrier gas to entrap and transport certain chemicals, transfer energy to chemical reactants and cool silicon wafers during production.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026
The document outlines the myriad ways the country’s security agents would try to surveil, entrap, compromise and recruit American visitors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
A man takes his daughter to a pop concert, only to discover when he arrives that the whole thing is a sting operation set up by the FBI to try and entrap a dangerous criminal.
From BBC • Aug. 7, 2024
AI will entrap us in a matrix where none of us know what’s real.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2024
Or how those hands, which could set the most intricate of snares, could as easily entrap me.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
