trapdoor
Americannoun
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trapdoors
plural
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a door flush with the surface of a floor, ceiling, or roof.
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the opening that it covers.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of trapdoor
First recorded in 1325–75, trapdoor is from Middle English trappe dore. See trap 1, door
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:
The loop has presented Clark with a trapdoor disguised as an exit.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
The park, which closed in late December, contains games and rides that reference past MrBeast videos, such as a trapdoor tower and catapults.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026
The civil judgement said entry was via a trapdoor and a 60m-long curved concrete tunnel.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025
She knows the location of the hidden trapdoor that leads to the rafters of the arch above the nave.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2024
But because the location of each hidden trapdoor was clearly marked on my map, I was able to avoid all of them.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
"Are we now asking inspectors to pry up the floorboards and look for trapdoors?" he asked.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2023
There is action as well, involving intricate stagecraft like revolving platforms and trapdoors.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
They’ve linked their albums together too, creating a nebulous realm called the Gizzverse — a place filled with people vultures, rattlesnakes, tetrachromats, trapdoors, gators, fishies, garden goblins and various other strange creatures and out-of-body experiences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
We've worked with him in coalitions for nearly 20 years, and we're fully confident that no one would be better at navigating the complexities and trapdoors of the House of Representatives.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2022
My brain is an unfamiliar room and trapdoors are everywhere.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
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.
