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Trap

//tɹæp// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
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. countable, uncountable
"I put down some traps in my apartment to try and deal with the mouse problem."
2
A dark coloured igneous rock, now used to designate any non-granitic igneous rock; trap rock. countable, uncountable
3
The trapezius muscle. slang
4
Acronym of targeted regulation of abortion providers. US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
"In February, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand South Carolina's TRAP law, which imposes 27 pages of requirements on abortion clinics—providing a virtual blueprint for states that want to create constitutional clinic regulations."
5
the act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise wordnet

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6
A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare. countable, uncountable
"Unfortunately she fell into the trap of confusing biology with destiny."
7
Acronym of training-repayment-agreement provision. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
8
a hazard on a golf course wordnet
9
A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.; A (usually fictional) location or feature originally added to a map to detect plagiarism and copyright violations by other map makers or map services. broadly, countable, uncountable
"trap street"
10
Initialism of twin reversed arterial perfusion. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
11
a device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned wordnet
12
A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.; Someone with male-typical anatomy who passes as female. countable, derogatory, informal, offensive, slang, uncountable, usually
"And trust me you don't want to see a trap ether. I like my girls without a ding-a-ling."
13
a light two-wheeled carriage wordnet
14
A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.; A fictional character from anime, or related media, who is coded as or has qualities typically associated with a gender other than the character's ostensible gender; otokonoko, josou. countable, informal, slang, uncountable
"One way to spot a trap is to look for an adam's apple."
15
a device to hurl clay pigeons into the air for trapshooters wordnet
16
An exception generated by the processor or by an external event. countable, uncountable
17
drain consisting of a U-shaped section of drainpipe that holds liquid and so prevents a return flow of sewer gas wordnet
18
Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object. countable, uncountable
"They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap."
19
informal terms for the mouth wordnet
20
Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.; A covering over a hole or opening; a trapdoor. countable, uncountable
"Close the trap, would you, before someone falls and breaks their neck."
21
something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares wordnet
22
Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.; A kind of movable stepladder or set of stairs. archaic, countable, uncountable
"There is likewise a cabin trap with five steps."
23
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.; A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for lack of an outlet. countable, uncountable
24
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.; A geological structure that creates a petroleum reservoir. countable, uncountable
25
A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball. countable, uncountable
26
A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball.; The game of trapball itself. countable, uncountable
27
A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold. US, also, attributive, countable, slang, uncountable
"trap phone"
28
A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.; An area, especially of a city, with a low level of opportunity and a high level of poverty and crime; a ghetto; a hood. US, also, attributive, countable, slang, uncountable
"Maybe T.I was also making connection between fur trapping and living in the trap, or the hood."
29
A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.; A genre of hip-hop music, with half-time drums and heavy sub-bass. US, also, attributive, slang, uncountable
30
A successful landing on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear. countable, slang, uncountable
"After 100 traps, the arresting cables have to be replaced to minimize the danger of a worn or fatigued cable snapping under an aircraft."
31
A light two-wheeled carriage with springs. countable, historical, uncountable
"a horse and trap"
32
A person's mouth. countable, slang, uncountable
"Keep your trap shut."
33
Synonym of vagina. countable, slang, uncountable
"But she carries the shawl so well that you never get a peep at her trap until she’s ready to show it to you."
34
A policeman. archaic, countable, slang, uncountable
"“He hung about, not to come over here afore dark, but he’ll be here soon,” replied Chitling. “There’s nowhere else to go to now, for the people at the Cripples are all in custody, and the bar of the ken—I went up there and see it with my own eyes—is filled with traps.”"
35
Belongings. archaic, countable, in-plural, uncountable
"...his cabin-mates in Montana losing small valuables from time to time, until at last, these things having been invariably found on Mr. Twain's person or in his "trunk" (newspaper he rolled his traps in)..."
36
A cubicle (in a public toilet). countable, slang, uncountable
"I've just laid a cable in trap 2 so I'd give it 5 minutes if I were you."
37
Trapshooting. countable, uncountable
38
A mining license inspector during the Australian gold rush. Australia, countable, historical, slang, uncountable
"The miners′ grievances centred on the issue of the compulsory purchase of miners′ licences and the harassment of raids by the licensing police, the ‘traps,’ in search of unlicensed miners."
39
The money earned by a prostitute for a pimp. slang, uncountable
"The money clip held thirty-nine hundred dollars, combined with her trap money, she had five thousand dollars for her man."

Verb

1
To physically capture, to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap. transitive
"to trap foxes"
2
To dress with ornaments; to adorn (especially said of horses).
"To decke his herce, and trap his tomb-blacke steed"
3
to hold fast or prevent from moving wordnet
4
To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap. transitive
"Be careful not to trap your finger in the door."
5
catch in or as if in a trap wordnet

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6
To provide with a trap. transitive
"to trap a drain"
7
hold or catch as if in a trap wordnet
8
To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; to travel for the purpose of trapping. intransitive
"trap for beaver"
9
to sell marijuana on a street corner wordnet
10
To successfully land an aircraft on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear. intransitive, slang
"After three consecutive bolters, the pilot finally trapped successfully on the Nimitz."
11
place in a confining or embarrassing position wordnet
12
To leave suddenly, to flee. intransitive
13
To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it. intransitive
14
To attend to and open and close a (trap-)door. dated
"For quotations using this term, see Citations:trap."
15
Of a 'trap': to trick a (heterosexual) man into having sex, by appearing to be a woman. informal, offensive, slang, sometimes
"Straight cis men persist in believing that my transition is all about them—tricking them, trapping them, ruining them."
16
To sell illegal drugs, especially in a public area. intransitive, slang
"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"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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 (“step, stair”), German Low German Trapp (“step, stair”). 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.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Swedish trapp (“step, stair, stairway”), from Middle Low German trappe (“stair, step”).

Etymology 4

Akin to Middle English trappe (“trappings, gear”), and perhaps from Old Northern French trape, a byform of Old French drap, a word of the same origin as English drab (“a kind of cloth”).

Etymology 5

Clipping of trapezius.

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