trap

[ trap ]

/ træp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trap ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a contrivance used for catching game or other animals, as a mechanical device that springs shut suddenly.

any device, stratagem, trick, or the like for catching a person unawares.

any of various devices for removing undesirable substances from a moving fluid, vapor, etc., as water from steam or cinders from coal gas.

Also called air trap. an arrangement in a pipe, as a double curve or a U-shaped section, in which liquid remains and forms a seal for preventing the passage or escape of air or of gases through the pipe from behind or below.

traps, the percussion instruments of a jazz or dance band.

Trapshooting, Skeet. a device for hurling clay pigeons into the air.

the piece of wood, shaped somewhat like a shoe hollowed at the heel, and moving on a pivot, used in playing the game of trapball.

the game of trapball.

trapdoor.

Sports. an act or instance of trapping a ball.

Also called mousetrap, trap play. Football. a play in which a defensive player, usually a guard or tackle, is allowed by the team on offense to cross the line of scrimmage into the backfield and is then blocked out from the side, thereby letting the ball-carrier run through the opening in the line.

Slang. mouth: Keep your trap shut.

Chiefly British. a carriage, especially a light, two-wheeled one.

verb (used with object), trapped, trap·ping.

to catch in a trap; ensnare: to trap foxes.

to catch by stratagem, artifice, or trickery.

to furnish or set with traps.

to provide (a drain or the like) with a trap.

to stop and hold by a trap, as air in a pipe.

Sports. to catch (a ball) as it rises after having just hit the ground.

Football. to execute a trap against (a defensive player).

verb (used without object), trapped, trap·ping.

to set traps for game: He was busy trapping.

to engage in the business of trapping animals for their furs.

Trapshooting, Skeet. to work the trap.

Nearby words

Origin of trap

before 1000; Middle English trappe (noun), trappen (v.), Old English træppe (noun), cognate with Middle Dutch trappe (Dutch trap) trap, step, staircase; akin to Old English treppan to tread, German Treppe staircase

SYNONYMS FOR trap

1, 2. T rap , pitfall , snare apply to literal or figurative contrivances for deceiving and catching animals or people. Literally, a trap is a mechanical contrivance for catching animals, the main feature usually being a spring: a trap baited with cheese for mice. Figuratively, trap suggests the scheme of one person to take another by surprise and thereby gain an advantage: a trap for the unwary. A pitfall is (usually) a concealed pit arranged for the capture of large animals or of people who may fall into it; figuratively, it is any concealed danger, error, or source of disaster: to avoid the pitfalls of life. A snare is a device for entangling birds, rabbits, etc., with intent to capture; figuratively, it implies enticement and inveiglement: the temptress' snare.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trap ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formstrap·like, adjective

trap

[ trap ]

/ træp /

noun

traps, Informal. personal belongings; baggage.

verb (used with object), trapped, trap·ping.

to furnish with or as with trappings; caparison.

Origin of trap

1300–50; Middle English trappe (noun), trappen (v.) < ?

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for trapping

When the tried to exit the car, her driver locked the doors, trapping her inside.
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ISIS has now surrounded Mount Sinjar again, trapping approximately 10,000 Yazidis there.
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The choice of the van, traditionally considered a vehicle for trapping women, amusingly turns the convention on its head.
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Once it is released to the atmosphere, methane is 23 times more powerful at trapping heat than CO2 is; hence the alarm.
The End of the Arctic? Ocean Could be Ice Free by 2015|Mark Hertsgaard|December 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST

“I think this is some sort of trap—they are trapping people inside,” he said.
Muslim Brotherhood, Activists Face Off On Egypt’s Streets|Mike Giglio|December 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
My uncle had often during the previous twenty years, crossed the mountains, on trapping expeditions with an elder brother.
Christopher Carson|John S. C. Abbott
He should also have a line of traps constructed in advance of the trapping season.
Deadfalls and Snares|A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding
This state of affairs led them to the determination to quit the country, as the trapping season was far advanced.
The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself|De Witt C. Peters
Hunting, trapping, and fishing are vocations for some men, and sport for many more.
How To Write Special Feature Articles|Willard Grosvenor Bleyer
He has been hunting, trapping, and selling wood; but he is not living now.
Plane and Plank|Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for trapping

trap

/ (træp) /

noun

a mechanical device or enclosed place or pit in which something, esp an animal, is caught or penned

any device or plan for tricking a person or thing into being caught unawares

anything resembling a trap or prison

a fitting for a pipe in the form of a U-shaped or S-shaped bend that contains standing water to prevent the passage of gases

any similar device

a device that hurls clay pigeons into the air to be fired at by trapshooters

any one of a line of boxlike stalls in which greyhounds are enclosed before the start of a race

See trap door

a light two-wheeled carriage

a slang word for mouth

golf an obstacle or hazard, esp a bunker

(plural) jazz slang percussion instruments

(usually plural) Australian obsolete, slang a policeman

verb traps, trapping or trapped

(tr) to catch, take, or pen in or as if in a trap; entrap

(tr) to ensnare by trickery; trick

(tr) to provide (a pipe) with a trap

to set traps in (a place), esp for animals

Derived Formstraplike, adjective

Word Origin for trap

Old English træppe; related to Middle Low German trappe, Medieval Latin trappa

trap

/ (træp) /

noun

an obsolete word for trappings (def. 2)

verb traps, trapping or trapped

(tr often foll by out) to dress or adorn

Word Origin for trap

C11: probably from Old French drap cloth

trap

traprock

/ (træp) /

noun

any fine-grained often columnar dark igneous rock, esp basalt

any rock in which oil or gas has accumulated

Word Origin for trap

C18: from Swedish trappa stair (from its steplike formation); see trap 1

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

Word Origin and History for trapping

trap

"contrivance for catching unawares," late Old English træppe "snare, trap," from Proto-Germanic *trap- (cf. Middle Dutch trappe "trap, snare"), related to Germanic words for "stair, step, tread" (cf. Middle Dutch, Middle Low German trappe, treppe, German Treppe "step, stair"). Probably akin to Old French trape, Spanish trampa "trap, pit, snare," but the exact relationship is uncertain. The connecting notion seems to be "that on which an animal steps." Sense of "deceitful practice, trickery" is first recorded c.1400. Sense in speed trap recorded from 1906. Slang meaning "mouth" is from 1776. Trap door "door in a floor or ceiling" (often hidden and leading to a passageway or secret place) is first attested late 14c.

trap

c.1400, "ensnare (an animal), catch in a trap; encircle; capture," from trap (n.) or from Old English betræppan. Figurative use is slightly earlier (late 14c.). Related: Trapped; trapping.

Idioms and Phrases with trapping

trap

see fall into a trap; mind like a steel trap.

trap

noun

verb (used with object), trapped, trap·ping.

verb (used without object), trapped, trap·ping.

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Nearby words

Origin of trap

trap

noun

verb (used with object), trapped, trap·ping.

Origin of trap

Examples from the Web for trapping

trap

noun

verb traps, trapping or trapped

Word Origin for trap

trap

noun

verb traps, trapping or trapped

Word Origin for trap

trap

traprock

noun

Word Origin for trap

trap

trap

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