Luxembourgish

Noun

Trap f ‎(plural Trapen)

1. stair, step
2. staircase

English

Leghold trap

Noun

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; a snare.

   Unfortunately she fell into the trap of confusing biology with destiny.

   • Shakespeare

     God and your majesty / Protect mine innocence, or I fall into / The trap is laid for me!

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
5. The game of trapball itself.
6. Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.

   They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap.

7. 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.
8. A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for want of an outlet.
9. (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 May, George Orwell, chapter 1, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     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.

10. (slang) A person's mouth.

    Keep your trap shut.

11. (in the 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)...

    • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter IX, p. 144,

      "Carry your traps out, Ma?" asked one of the passengers.

12. (slang) A cubicle (in a public toilet).

    I've just laid a cable in trap 2 so I'd give it 5 minutes if I were you.

13. (sports) Trapshooting.
14. (computing) An exception generated by the processor or by an external event.
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. (Also used attributively to describe things which are used for the sale of drugs, e.g. "a trap phone", "a trap car".)
17. (slang, informal, chiefly derogatory, offensive) A non-op trans woman or (femininely dressed) transvestite.
    • 2010 July 20, Antonio E. Gonzalez, “Re:Moyashimon Live Action”, in rec.arts.anime.misc, Usenet:

      Of course Kei would look like a young woman, that's how traps work!

    • 2011 May 27, “Re: anons target US chamber”, in alt.2600, Usenet:

      And trust me you don't want to see a trap ether. I like my girls without a ding-a-ling.

    • 2013 September 7, Bobbie Sellers, “Re: What's your favouite anime?”, in rec.arts.manga, Usenet:

      I saw Episode 10 of the anime today. When it explains about the trap's problems in HS it was much clearer than the same section of the manga.

18. A kind of movable stepladder.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

19. (music) A fusion genre of hip-hop and electronic music

Synonyms

• snare

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To physically capture, to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap.
   • 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:

     As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.

   to trap foxes‎

2. (transitive) To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.
   • Dryden

     I trapped the foe.

3. (transitive) To provide with a trap.

   to trap a drain;  to trap a sewer pipe‎

4. (intransitive) To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game

   trap for beaver

5. (intransitive) To leave suddenly, to flee.
6. (US, slang, informal, African American Vernacular, intransitive) To sell narcotics, especially in a public area.
7. (computing, intransitive) To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.

Translations

Related terms

• entrap
• entrapment

Etymology 2

Borrowing from Swedish trapp, from trappa ‎(“stair”).

Noun

trap ‎(uncountable)

1. A dark coloured igneous rock, now used to designate any non-volcanic, non-granitic igneous rock; trap rock.

Derived terms

• trappean
• trappous
• trappy

Etymology 3

Akin to Old English trappe ‎(“trappings”), and perhaps from an Old French word of the same origin as English drab ‎(“a kind of cloth”).

Verb

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

1. To dress with ornaments; to adorn (especially said of horses).
   • Spenser

     to deck his hearse, and trap his tomb-black steed

   • Tennyson

     There she found her palfrey trapped / In purple blazoned with armorial gold.

Etymology 4

Shortening.

Noun

trap ‎(plural traps)

1. (slang, bodybuilding) The trapezius muscle.

Anagrams

• part
• prat
• rapt
• tarp

Albanian

Etymology

Either a t- prefixed form of *rap, related to rrap (cf. Old Norse raptr ‎(“rafter”), English raft) or akin to Proto-Germanic *trap-, compare Old High German trappa, trapa ‎(“trap, snare”), German Treppe "step, stair", Old English treppan ‎(“to step, tread”), English trap.

Noun

trap m

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

Related terms

• rrap

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑp

Etymology 1

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

Noun

trap m ‎(plural trappen, diminutive trapje n or trappetje n)

1. stairs, staircase
2. ladder
3. degree, grade
4. kick (act of kicking)

Derived terms

• vergelijkende trap
• overtreffende trap
• stellende trap
• vergrotende trap

Descendants

• Japanese: タラップ ‎(tarappu)
• Russian: трап ‎(trap)

Verb

trap

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

Etymology 2

From German Trappe, from Polish drop or Czech drop.

Noun

trap f ‎(plural trappen, diminutive trapje n)

1. bustard

Anagrams

• prat

Finnish

Etymology

From English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtrɑp/
• IPA^(key): /ˈtræp/

Noun

trap

1. trapshooting, trap (type of shooting sport)

Declension

Pronunciation /ˈt̪rɑp/:

Pronunciation /ˈt̪ræp/:

See also

• trappi

Spanish

Noun

trap m ‎(uncountable)

1. trap (music)