steel trap
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of steel trap
First recorded in 1725–35
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.
Where Maggie is candid, at least to a point, Alma is a steel trap.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2025
Granted, the second busiest airport in the nation, built in a sprawling, car-dependent city and perpetually under construction, often feels like a steel trap for traffic, especially during the holidays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2022
Douglass, who disapproved of the use of violence, wrote that he had warned Brown that “he was going into a perfect steel trap, and that once in he would never get out alive.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2020
It is like a steel trap only in that if you tried to administer an intelligence test to a steel trap, the trap would not do very well and might injure you in some way.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 8, 2019
If my brain was a colander, Elliot’s was a steel trap.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
