trap
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: trăp
ipa: /tɹæp/
ipa: [t̠ɹ̠̊˔æp]
ipa: [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ap]
ipa: [t̠ɹ̠̊˔äp]
ipa: [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ɛp]
rhymes: -æp
Forms: form: traps
form: trapping
form: trapped
form: trapped
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: to trap foxes
text: As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.
ref: 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
glosses: To physically capture, to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap.
examples: text: Be careful not to trap your finger in the door.
text: I trapp'd the foe.
ref: 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.
examples: text: to trap a drain
text: to trap a sewer pipe
glosses: To provide with a trap.
examples: text: trap for beaver
text: They trapped north along the river.
glosses: To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; to travel for the purpose of trapping.
examples: text: After three consecutive bolters, the pilot finally trapped successfully on the Nimitz.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
war
antonyms: bolter
glosses: To successfully land an aircraft on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear.
glosses: To leave suddenly, to flee.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.
examples: For quotations using this term, see Citations:trap.
topics: business
mining
glosses: To attend to and open and close a (trap-)door.
examples: text: Straight cis men persist in believing that my transition is all about them—tricking them, trapping them, ruining them.
ref: 2016, Stefan Horlacher, Transgender and Intersex: Theoretical, Practical, and Artistic Perspectives, Palgrave Macmillan US, page 92:
text: A "trap" is basically a trans girl or crossdresser who "tricks" or "traps" a straight male into getting aroused by them and then suddenly reveals their trans status.
ref: 2019, Rachel Anne Williams, Transgressive: A Trans Woman on Gender, Feminism, and Politics, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 32:
text: the Western pornography genre in which a straight man believes he is being seduced by a cis woman, and by the time he discovers she is trans has been “trapped” by his lust into having a sexual encounter with her.
ref: 2020, Natalie Boero, The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Body and Embodiment, Little, Brown and Company, pages 211–212:
glosses: Of a 'trap': to trick a (heterosexual) man into having sex, by appearing to be a woman.
examples: text: My kicks are wet from trappin' in the rain / Stole these Marshall bikes today / But don't walk in the bikers' lane / Or you're gonna catch a deafaz to the brain
ref: 2024 June 3, “Wah Gwan Delilah” (3:13 from the start)performed by Snowd4y ft. Drake:
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: To sell illegal drugs, especially in a public area.
Derived terms: betrap
trap and trace
trap in
trap out
Related terms: entrap
entrapment