/ træp; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
FOR ANIMALS
1.
a piece of equipment for catching animals :
a fox with its leg in a trap
A trap was laid, with fresh bait.
—see also mousetrap
TRICK
2.
a clever plan designed to trick sb, either by capturing them or by making them do or say sth that they did not mean to do or say :
She had set a trap for him and he had walked straight into it.
—see also booby trap , radar trap , sand trap , tourist trap
BAD SITUATION
3.
[ usually sing. ] an unpleasant situation from which it is hard to escape :
the unemployment trap
Some women see marriage as a trap.
—see also death trap , poverty trap
CARRIAGE
4.
a light carriage with two wheels, pulled by a horse :
a pony and trap
MOUTH
5.
( slang ) mouth
SYN gob :
Shut your trap! (= a rude way of telling sb to be quiet)
to keep your trap shut (= to not tell a secret)
FOR RACING DOG
6.
a cage from which a greyhound (= a type of dog) is let out at the start of a race
IN GOLF
7.
( NAmE ) = bunker
•
IDIOMS
- to fall into / avoid the trap of doing sth
—more at spring verb
■ verb
( -pp- ) [ vn ]
IN DANGEROUS / BAD SITUATION
1.
[ often passive ] to keep sb in a dangerous place or bad situation that they want to get out of but cannot :
Help! I'm trapped!
They were trapped in the burning building.
We became trapped by the rising floodwater.
He was trapped in an unhappy marriage.
I feel trapped in my job.
PART OF BODY / CLOTHING
2.
[usually + adv. / prep. ] to have part of your body, your clothing, etc. held in a place so tightly that you cannot remove it and it may be injured or damaged :
I trapped my coat in the car door.
The pain was caused by a trapped nerve.
CATCH
3.
to catch or keep sth in a place and prevent it from escaping, especially so that you can use it :
Solar panels trap energy from the sun.
4.
to force sb/sth into a place or situation that they cannot escape from, especially in order to catch them :
The escaped prisoners were eventually trapped in an underground garage and recaptured.
5.
to catch an animal in a trap :
Raccoons used to be trapped for their fur.
TRICK
6.
trap sb (into sth / into doing sth) to trick sb into sth :
He felt he had been trapped into accepting the terms of the contract.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English træppe (in coltetræppe Christ's thorn ); related to Middle Dutch trappe and medieval Latin trappa , of uncertain origin. The verb dates from late Middle English .