trap

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body.
2. (countable, uncountable) A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.
3. (broadly, countable, uncountable) A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.
4. (countable, derogatory, informal, offensive, slang, uncountable, usually) A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.
5. (countable, informal, slang, uncountable) A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.
6. (countable, uncountable) An exception generated by the processor or by an external event.
7. (countable, uncountable) Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.
8. (countable, uncountable) Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.
9. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.
10. (countable, uncountable) A bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents the escape of noxious gases, but permits the flow of liquids.
11. (countable, uncountable) A bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents the escape of noxious gases, but permits the flow of liquids.
12. (countable, uncountable) A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball.
13. (countable, uncountable) A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball.
14. (US, also, attributive, countable, slang, uncountable) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.
15. (US, also, attributive, countable, slang, uncountable) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.
16. (US, also, attributive, slang, uncountable) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.
17. (countable, slang, uncountable) A successful landing on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear.
18. (countable, historical, uncountable) A light two-wheeled carriage with springs.
19. (countable, slang, uncountable) A person's mouth.
20. (countable, slang, uncountable) Synonym of vagina.
21. (archaic, countable, slang, uncountable) A policeman.
22. (archaic, countable, in-plural, uncountable) Belongings.
23. (countable, slang, uncountable) A cubicle (in a public toilet).
24. (countable, uncountable) Trapshooting.
25. (Australia, countable, historical, slang, uncountable) A mining license inspector during the Australian gold rush.
26. (slang, uncountable) The money earned by a prostitute for a pimp.

Verb

1. (transitive) To physically capture, to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap.
2. (transitive) To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.
3. (transitive) To provide with a trap.
4. (intransitive) To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; to travel for the purpose of trapping.
5. (intransitive, slang) To successfully land an aircraft on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear.
6. (intransitive) To leave suddenly, to flee.
7. (intransitive) To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.
8. (dated) To attend to and open and close a (trap-)door.
9. (informal, offensive, slang, sometimes) Of a 'trap': to trick a (heterosexual) man into having sex, by appearing to be a woman.
10. (intransitive, slang) To sell illegal drugs, especially in a public area.

Verb

To dress with ornaments; to adorn (especially said of horses).

Opposite of

bolter

Synonyms

snare

catch

ensnare

pitfall

entrap

capture

net

trick

pit

noose

gin

seize

mousetrap

ambush

lure

grab

corner

hook

🪝

trammel

trapping

lasso

gob

maw

captivate

mesh

ambuscade

grapple

lying in wait

apprehend

springe

booby trap

sand trap

decoy

enmesh

fish trap

bait

pot

pin

mug

pin down

quagmire

immobilize

inducement

hole

🕳️

immobilise

control

bunker

grasp

grip

frame

Translations

piège

🪤

trampa

🪤

Falle

🪤

trappola

🪤

atrapar

fangen

piéger

🪤

traquenard

🪤

παγίδα

intrappolare

🪤

val

armadilha

🪤

attraper

🪤

trappe

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tɹæp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: trappe

Inherited from Old English: træppe

Cognate with Dutch: trap

Cognate with Western Frisian: traap

Cognate with German: Treppe

Cognate with Old English: træppan

Cognate with Old French: drap

In summary

From Middle English trappe, from Old English træppe, treppe (“trap, snare”) (also in betræppan (“to trap”)) from Proto-West Germanic *trappjā (“trap, snare”), from Proto-West Germanic *trappjan (“to step”), from Proto-Germanic *trapjaną (“to tread, stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ- (“to step, trip, trample”).
Cognate with Dutch trap (“trap, snare”), German Low German Trapp (“trap”). Akin also to West Frisian traap (“stepping, treading, stairway”), German Treppe (“step, stair”), Old English træppan (“to step, tread”). Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". French trappe and Spanish trampa are ultimately borrowings from Germanic.