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.
See Examples For:
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
Occultists have learned that by deploying sound vibrations they can summon angels from the cosmic ether and entrap them on earth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
England’s drops were poor, but Woakes expertly exploited the swing to entrap Mathews.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2024
AI will entrap us in a matrix where none of us know what’s real.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2024
“Do you want me then,” said Estella, turning suddenly with a fixed and serious, if not angry, look, “to deceive and entrap you?”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
When Perla rejects Ulises’ practiced advances, he enlists the aid of her put-upon niece, who longs to escape both her demanding aunt and the decaying mansion that entraps her.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
FBI Director Kash Patel said "you cannot create a scenario that illegally entraps and puts law enforcement in harm's way."
From Barron's ● Feb. 2, 2026
Sterling’s performance art slowly becomes indistinguishable from the Kafkaesque legal system that entraps the performers.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 7, 2023
Instead, what it shows is that rather than open doors for students, debt entraps them.
From Salon ● May 8, 2021
"Well, you said,…… there is not a single high-collared guy who with smooth face entraps innocent people……."
From Botchan (Master Darling) by Morri, Yasotaro
Their crevices are convenient hiding spots for the microscopic parasites to become entrapped, said Byron Chaves, a food-safety scientist and professor at Rutgers University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
"It's very, very concerning when you have such a volume of people entering an area and could end up being entrapped by a wildfire," Mr McMullen said.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2025
At the 2020 trial, Lindberg’s lawyers argued in part that he didn’t commit a crime and that he was entrapped by Causey’s participation with authorities.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
The kind who can stand up against those hoping to keep you entrapped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
Worried about being entrapped, Cox’s friend went back to their hotel.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
In dressing rooms, a size-XS shirt would go over my head instead of entrapping me like a straitjacket.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2024
Critics have accused federal agents of entrapping a group men who were down on their luck after doing prison time.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 20, 2024
In the stomach, germs must also overcome other deadly barriers such as digestive enzymes, entrapping mucus and the ever-watchful immune system defenses.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2023
Many pits were active over thousands of years, entrapping countless animals whose remains muddled together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
Now near the royal palace was a forest well stocked with game; and by the direction of this person various pits were dug there, and covered with leaves, for the purpose of entrapping the beasts.
From Mediaeval Tales by Morley, Henry
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.
