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Mousetrap

//ˈmaʊsˌtɹæp// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A device for capturing or killing mice and other rodents. countable
  2. 2
    (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 wordnet
  3. 3
    A website designed to open another copy of itself when the user tries to close the webpage. Internet, countable
  4. 4
    a trap for catching mice wordnet
  5. 5
    Ordinary, everyday cheese. British, informal, uncountable
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    A slice of bread or toast topped with cheese and then grilled or microwaved. New-Zealand, countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    An antisubmarine rocket used mainly during World War II by the US Navy and US Coast Guard. countable, historical, uncountable

    "Besides depth charges, they were armed with smaller forward firing antisubmarine rocket launchers called mousetraps. Fired in groups, these rockets detonated when they contacted a submarine."

Verb
  1. 1
    To trap; to trick or fool (someone) into a bad situation. figuratively, transitive

    "He hoped to bring the rebels out of their trenches for a showdown battle somewhere south of the Wilderness, that gloomy expanse of scrub oaks and pines where Lee had mousetrapped Joe Hooker exactly a year earlier."

  2. 2
    To prevent (the user) from leaving a website by opening another copy when it is closed. Internet, transitive

    "The scammer is paid for each new visitor directed to his site. There is nothing wrong except that the user finds it impossible to leave the site because he is mousetrapped."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English mouse-trappe, mous trappe, mouse trape, equivalent to mouse + trap. Cognate with Dutch muizetrap, muizentrap (“mousetrap”), German Low German Muustrappe, Muustrapp (“mousetrap”). In the Internet sense, refers to a computer mouse.

Etymology 2

From Middle English mouse-trappe, mous trappe, mouse trape, equivalent to mouse + trap. Cognate with Dutch muizetrap, muizentrap (“mousetrap”), German Low German Muustrappe, Muustrapp (“mousetrap”). In the Internet sense, refers to a computer mouse.

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