trap Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned
  2. noun drain consisting of a U-shaped section of drainpipe that holds liquid and so prevents a return flow of sewer gas
  3. noun something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares
    snare.
    • the exam was full of trap questions
    • it was all a snare and delusion
  4. noun a device to hurl clay pigeons into the air for trapshooters
  5. noun the act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise
    lying in wait; ambush; ambuscade.
  6. noun informal terms for the mouth
    maw; yap; gob; cakehole; hole.
  7. noun a light two-wheeled carriage
  8. noun a hazard on a golf course
    bunker; sand trap.
  9. verb place in a confining or embarrassing position
    pin down.
    • He was trapped in a difficult situation
  10. verb catch in or as if in a trap
    trammel; entrap; ensnare; snare.
    • The men trap foxes
  11. verb hold or catch as if in a trap
    • The gaps between the teeth trap food particles
  12. verb to hold fast or prevent from moving
    immobilize; immobilise; pin.
    • The child was pinned under the fallen tree

WordNet

Trap transitive verb
Etymology
Akin to OE. trappe trappings, and perhaps from an Old French word of the same origin as E. drab a kind of cloth.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Trapped ; present participle & verbal noun Trapping
Definitions
  1. To dress with ornaments; to adorn; -- said especially of horses.
    Steeds . . . that trapped were in steel all glittering. Chaucer.
    To deck his hearse, and trap his tomb-black steed. Spenser.
    There she found her palfrey trapped In purple blazoned with armorial gold. Tennyson.
Trap noun
Etymology
Sw. trapp; akin to trappa stairs, Dan. trappe, G. treppe, D. trap; -- so called because the rocks of this class often occur in large, tabular masses, rising above one another, like steps. See Tramp.
Definitions
  1. (Geol.) An old term rather loosely used to designate various dark-colored, heavy igneous rocks, including especially the feldspathic-augitic rocks, basalt, dolerite, amygdaloid, etc., but including also some kinds of diorite. Called also trap rock.
Trap adjective
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to trap rock; as, a trap dike.
Trap noun
Etymology
OE. trappe, AS. treppe; akin to OD.trappe, OHG. trapo; probably fr. the root of E. tramp, as that which is trod upon: cf. F. trappe, which is trod upon: cf. F. trappe, which perhaps influenced the English word.
Definitions
  1. A machine or contrivance that shuts suddenly, as with a spring, used for taking game or other animals; as, a trap for foxes.
    She would weep if that she saw a mouse Caught in a trap. Chaucer.
  2. Fig.: A snare; an ambush; a stratagem; any device by which one may be caught unawares.
    Let their table be made a snare and a trap. Rom. xi. 9.
    God and your majesty Protect mine innocence, or I fall into The trap is laid for me! Shak.
  3. A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball. It consists of a pivoted arm on one end of which is placed the ball to be thrown into the air by striking the other end. Also, a machine for throwing into the air glass balls, clay pigeons, etc., to be shot at.
  4. The game of trapball.
  5. A bend, sag, or partitioned chamber, in a drain, soil pipe, sewer, etc., arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents passage of air or gas, but permits the flow of liquids.
  6. A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for want of an outlet.
  7. A wagon, or other vehicle. Colloq. Thackeray.
  8. A kind of movable stepladder. Knight.
Trap transitive verb
Etymology
AS. treppan. See Trap a snare.
Definitions
  1. To catch in a trap or traps; as, to trap foxes.
  2. Fig.: To insnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap. "I trapped the foe." Dryden.
  3. To provide with a trap; to trap a drain; to trap a sewer pipe. See 4th Trap, 5.
Trap intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; as, to trap for beaver.

Webster 1913