mousetrap
pronunciation
How to pronounce mousetrap in British English:
UK [ˈmaʊstræp]
How to pronounce mousetrap in American English:
US [ˈmaʊsˌtræp]
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- Noun:
- a trap for catching mice
- (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
Word Origin
- mousetrap (n.)
- late 15c., from mouse (n.) + trap (n.). Figurative use from 1570s. The thing is older than the word. Old English had musfealle; Middle English had mouscacche (late 14c.).
Example
- 1. The mousetrap missed the big mouse , and that led to considerable damage .
- 2. Apple may claim a patent on its mousetrap , but can it claim to control all methods for catching mice ?
- 3. If the questions raised about macroeconomic models recently can 't derail any part of the macroeconomics research agenda from its present path , it 's likely to be a long time before that new mousetrap arrives .
- 4. And while consumers the world over may well celebrate any successes by chinese for building a better mousetrap , search engine , or car engine , such consumers might also remember that their choices are not always made in completely free markets .
- 5. Ralph waldo emerson , a 19th-century american sage , is supposed to have said that if a man built a better mousetrap than his neighbour , the world would make a beaten path to his door .