rattrap

[rat-trap]

noun

1. a device for catching rats.

2. a run-down, filthy, or dilapidated place.

3. a difficult, involved, or entangling situation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rattrap¹

1425–75; late Middle English. See rat, trap ¹

Example Sentences

While cleaning it I found lots of matches, a cap, and a rattrap.

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He had accidentally stumbled upon the rattraps, two of which were attached crookedly to his sneakers.

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Chumley’s, he wrote, came well recommended when he was seeking a place to take “a ‘nice girl’ instead of the rattraps I usually patronized.”

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The carton was very sticky, covered in glue from rattraps.

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He remembers that house as a “rattrap,” a term that had an all-too-literal meaning for Rice, whose feet were bitten by rodents while he slept.

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Related Words

• cottage 
• hut 
• lean-to 
• shack 
• shanty