trap

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English [edit]

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Leghold trap

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

Middle English trappe, from Old English træppe, treppe (trap, snare) (also in betræppan (to trap)) from Proto-Germanic *trap-. Akin to Old High German trappa, trapa (trap, snare), Middle Dutch trappe (trap, snare), Middle Low German treppe (step, stair) (German Treppe "step, stair"), Old English treppan (to step, tread). Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". French trappe and Spanish trampa are ultimately borrowings from Germanic.

Noun [edit]

trap (plural traps)

  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.
    I put down some traps in my apartment to try and deal with the mouse problem.
  2. A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense.
    Unfortunately she fell into the trap of confusing biology with destiny.
  3. A covering over a hole or opening; a trapdoor.
    Close the trap, would you, before someone falls and breaks their neck.
  4. A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball; the game of trapball itself.
  5. Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.
    They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap.
  6. 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.
  7. A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for want of an outlet.
  8. (historical) A light two-wheeled carriage with springs.
    • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 2
      The two women looked down the alley. At the end of the Bottoms a man stood in a sort of old-fashioned trap, bending over bundles of cream-coloured stuff; while a cluster of women held up their arms to him, some with bundles.
    • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 51
      I had told them they could have my trap to take them as far as the road went, because after that they had a long walk.
    • 1945, George Orwell, Animal Farm, chapter 1
      At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones's trap, came mincing daintily in, chewing at a lump of sugar.
  9. (slang) A person's mouth.
    Keep your trap shut.
  10. (plural) belongings
    • 1870, Mark Twain, Running for Governor,
      ...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)...
  11. (slang) Short for trapezius muscle in bodybuilding
  12. (sports) Short for trapshooting.
  13. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (slang, pejorative) A person who crossdresses as a female; a transvestite or transsexual.
    I saw your brother asking a trap out last night at the bar.
  14. (computing) An exception generated by the processor.
  15. (Australia, slang, historical) A mining license inspector during the Australian gold rush.
    • 1996, Judith Kapferer, Being All Equal: Identity, Difference and Australian Cultural Practice, page 84,
      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.
    • 2006, Helen Calvert, Jenny Herbst, Ross Smith, Australia and the World: Thinking Historically, page 55,
      Diggers were angered by frequent licence inspections and harassment by ‘the traps’ (the goldfield police).
  16. (US, slang, informal, African American Vernacular) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Verb [edit]

trap (third-person singular simple present traps, present participle trapping, simple past and past participle trapped)

  1. (transitive) To catch in a trap or traps; as, to trap foxes.
  2. (transitive) To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.
  3. (transitive) To provide with a trap; as, to trap a drain; to trap a sewer pipe.
  4. (intransitive) To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; as, to trap for beaver.
  5. (intransitive) To leave suddenly, to flee.
  6. (intransitive) To crossdress convincingly as a female.
  7. (US, slang, informal, African American Vernacular) (slang) (intransitive) To sell narcotics, especially in a public area.
  8. (computing) (intransitive) To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.
Translations [edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Related terms [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

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From Swedish trapp, from trappa (stair).

Noun [edit]

trap (uncountable)

  1. A dark coloured igneous rock, now used to designate any non-volcanic, non-granitic igneous rock; trap rock.
Derived terms [edit]

Anagrams [edit]


Albanian [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From a t- prefixed form *rap (similarly to tetë, tjetër, tambël). Compare Old Norse raptr (rafter), English raft.

Noun [edit]

trap m

  1. raft, ferry
  2. thick grove
  3. furrow, channel, ditch
  4. path (on the mountains or in the woods)

Dutch [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle Dutch trappe, from Old Dutch *trappa, from Proto-Germanic *trappō, *trappōn.

Noun [edit]

trap m (plural trappen, diminutive trapje)

  1. stairs, staircase
  2. ladder
  3. degree, grade
  4. kick (act of kicking)
Derived terms [edit]
Descendants [edit]

Verb [edit]

trap

  1. first-person singular present indicative of trappen
  2. imperative of trappen

Etymology 2 [edit]

From German Trappe, from Polish drop or Czech drop.

Noun [edit]

trap f (plural trappen, diminutive trapje)

  1. bustard

Anagrams [edit]


Finnish [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From English

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /ˈt̪rɑp/, also IPA: /ˈt̪ræp/

Noun [edit]

trap

  1. trapshooting, trap (type of shooting sport)

Declension [edit]

Pronunciation /ˈt̪rɑp/:

Pronunciation /ˈt̪ræp/:

See also [edit]