trap
pronunciation
How to pronounce trap in British English:
UK [træp]
How to pronounce trap in American English:
US [træp]
-
- Noun:
- a device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned
- drain consisting of a U-shaped section of drainpipe that holds liquid and so prevents a return flow of sewer gas
- something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares
- a device to hurl clay pigeons into the air for trapshooters
- the act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise
- informal terms for the mouth
- a light two-wheeled carriage
- a hazard on a golf course
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- Verb:
- place in a confining or embarrassing position
- catch in or as if in a trap
- hold or catch as if in a trap
- to hold fast or prevent from moving
Word Origin
- trap
- trap: [OE] The precise origins of trap are obscure. It goes back to an Old English træppe, and it has various relatives in the modern Germanic and Romance languages – Flemish trape, French trappe, Portuguese trapa, for instance – but its ultimate ancestry has never been unravelled. Its application to a small carriage emerged in the 19th century; it may be short for rattle-trap ‘rickety vehicle’.
- trap (v.)
- late 14c., "ensnare (an animal), catch in a trap; encircle; capture," from trap (n.) or from Old English betræppan. Figurative use is slightly earlier (late 14c.). Related: Trapped; trapping.
- trap (n.)
- "contrivance for catching unawares," late Old English træppe, treppe "snare, trap," from Proto-Germanic *trep- (cognates: Middle Dutch trappe "trap, snare"), related to Germanic words for "stair, step, tread" (Middle Dutch, Middle Low German trappe, treppe, German Treppe "step, stair," English tread (v.)), and probably literally "that on or into which one steps," from PIE *dreb-, extended form of root *der- (1), an assumed base of words meaning "to run, walk, step." Probably akin to Old French trape, Spanish trampa "trap, pit, snare," but the exact relationship is uncertain. Sense of "deceitful practice, device or contrivance to betray one" is first recorded c. 1400. Meaning "U-shaped section of a drain pipe" is from 1833. Slang meaning "mouth" is from 1776. Speed trap recorded from 1908. Trap door "door in a floor or ceiling" (often hidden and leading to a passageway or secret place) is first attested late 14c.
Example
- 1. People all too often fall into that trap .
- 2. Thus , in the liquidity trap government policy is incapable of stimulating economic growth .
- 3. Hot new hires often fall into the white knight trap .
- 4. How might labour escape this trap ?
- 5. Spain cannot escape from this trap by itself .