trap : Idioms & Phrases

Index

Air trap

  • a contrivance for shutting off foul air or gas from drains, sewers, etc.; a stench trap.
Webster 1913

Bell trap

  • a kind of bell shaped stench trap.
Webster 1913

Booby trap

  • noun an explosive mine hidden underground; explodes when stepped on or driven over
    ground-emplaced mine; land mine.
  • noun an unforeseen or unexpected or surprising difficulty
    pitfall.
WordNet
  • a schoolboy's practical joke, as a shower bath when a door is opened.
Webster 1913

Gas trap

  • a drain trap; a sewer trap. See 4th Trap, 5.
Webster 1913

iron trap

  • noun a trap from which there is no escape
WordNet

poverty trap

  • noun a situation in which an increase in income results in a loss of benefits so that you are no better off
WordNet

sand trap

  • noun a hazard on a golf course
    bunker; trap.
WordNet

solar trap

  • noun a terrace or garden oriented to take advantage of the sun while protected from cold winds
    suntrap.
WordNet

speed trap

  • noun a trap arranged on a roadway for catching speeders
WordNet

Steam trap

  • a self-acting device by means of which water that accumulates in a pipe or vessel containing steam will be discharged without permitting steam to escape.
Webster 1913

Steel trap

  • noun an acute intelligence (an analogy based on the well-known sharpness of steel traps)
    • he's as sharp as a steel trap
    • a mind like a steel trap
  • noun a trap made of steel with a strong spring and sharp toothlike projections to hold the prey
WordNet
  • a trap for catching wild animals. It consists of two iron jaws, which close by means of a powerful steel spring when the animal disturbs the catch, or tongue, by which they are kept open.
Webster 1913

Stench trap

  • a contrivance to prevent stench or foul air from rising from the openings of sewers, drains, etc.
Webster 1913

Stink trap

  • a stench trap. See under Stench.
Webster 1913

To set a trap, snare, ∨ gin

  • to put it in a proper condition or position to catch prey; hence, to lay a plan to deceive and draw another into one's power.
Webster 1913

trap block

  • noun (American football) an illegal block
WordNet

trap door

  • noun a hinged or sliding door in a floor or ceiling
WordNet

trap line

  • noun a line or series of traps
WordNet

trap play

  • noun (American football) a play in which a defensive player is allowed to cross the line of scrimmage and then blocked off as the runner goes through the place the lineman vacated
    mousetrap.
WordNet

Trap stairs

  • a staircase leading to a trapdoor.
Webster 1913

Trap tree

  • (Bot.) the jack; so called because it furnishes a kind of birdlime. See 1st Jack.
Webster 1913

Trap tufa, Trap tuff

  • a kind of fragmental rock made up of fragments and earthy materials from trap rocks.
Webster 1913

trap-and-drain auger

  • noun a plumber's snake for clearing a trap and drain
WordNet

trap-door spider

  • noun American spider that constructs a silk-lined nest with a hinged lid
WordNet

Waste trap

  • a trap for a waste pipe, as of a sink.
Webster 1913