man-trap

or man·trap

[ man-trap ]

noun
  1. an outdoor trap set for humans, as to snare poachers or trespassers.

  2. Slang. a woman who is purported to be dangerously seductive or who schemes in her amours; femme fatale.

Origin of man-trap

1
First recorded in 1765–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use man-trap in a sentence

  • Big hole down there filled up and the bridge that was just a mantrap new floored!

    The Long Roll | Mary Johnston
  • The old sheriff never allows any thing done outside the rules, for he's tighter than a mantrap. '

    Manuel Pereira | F. C. Adams
  • The cousins were alongside in the field which this mantrap bounded.

  • As for her complexion, that was nearly as brilliant as Lady Mantrap's, and without the powder which her ladyship uses.

    The History of Pendennis | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • I asked Lady Mantrap, when I heard you were to be here, to invite me to her party.

    The Bedford-Row Conspiracy | William Makepeace Thackeray

British Dictionary definitions for mantrap

mantrap

/ (ˈmænˌtræp) /


noun
  1. a snare for catching people, esp trespassers

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012