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Trapped

 - 6 dictionary results

trap

1  [trap] ,noun, verb, trapped, trap⋅ping.
Use Trapped in a Sentence
–noun
1. a contrivance used for catching game or other animals, as a mechanical device that springs shut suddenly.
2. any device, stratagem, trick, or the like for catching a person unawares.
3. any of various devices for removing undesirable substances from a moving fluid, vapor, etc., as water from steam or cinders from coal gas.
4. Also called air trap. an arrangement in a pipe, as a double curve or a U-shaped section, in which liquid remains and forms a seal for preventing the passage or escape of air or of gases through the pipe from behind or below.
5. traps, the percussion instruments of a jazz or dance band.
6. Trapshooting, Skeet. a device for hurling clay pigeons into the air.
7. the piece of wood, shaped somewhat like a shoe hollowed at the heel, and moving on a pivot, used in playing the game of trapball.
8. the game of trapball.
9. trap door.
10. Sports. an act or instance of trapping a ball.
11. Also called mousetrap, trap play. Football. a play in which a defensive player, usually a guard or tackle, is allowed by the team on offense to cross the line of scrimmage into the backfield and is then blocked out from the side, thereby letting the ball-carrier run through the opening in the line.
12. Slang. mouth: Keep your trap shut.
13. Chiefly British. a carriage, esp. a light, two-wheeled one.
–verb (used with object)
14. to catch in a trap; ensnare: to trap foxes.
15. to catch by stratagem, artifice, or trickery.
16. to furnish or set with traps.
17. to provide (a drain or the like) with a trap.
18. to stop and hold by a trap, as air in a pipe.
19. Sports. to catch (a ball) as it rises after having just hit the ground.
20. Football. to execute a trap against (a defensive player).
–verb (used without object)
21. to set traps for game: He was busy trapping.
22. to engage in the business of trapping animals for their furs.
23. Trapshooting, Skeet. to work the trap.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME trappe (n.), trappen (v.), OE træppe (n.), c. MD trappe (D trap) trap, step, staircase; akin to OE treppan to tread, G Treppe staircase

Related forms:
traplike, adjective

Synonyms:
1, 2. Trap, pitfall, snare apply to literal or figurative contrivances for deceiving and catching animals or people. Literally, a trap is a mechanical contrivance for catching animals, the main feature usually being a spring: a trap baited with cheese for mice. Figuratively, trap suggests the scheme of one person to take another by surprise and thereby gain an advantage: a trap for the unwary. A pitfall is (usually) a concealed pit arranged for the capture of large animals or of people who may fall into it; figuratively, it is any concealed danger, error, or source of disaster: to avoid the pitfalls of life. A snare is a device for entangling birds, rabbits, etc., with intent to capture; figuratively, it implies enticement and inveiglement: the temptress' snare.

trap

2  [trap] ,noun, verb, trapped, trap⋅ping.
–noun
1. traps, Informal. personal belongings; baggage.
–verb (used with object)
2. to furnish with or as with trappings; caparison.
Origin:
1300–50; ME trappe (n.), trappen (v.) < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Trapped
trap 1   (trāp)   
n.  

  1. A contrivance for catching and holding animals, as a concealed pit or a clamplike device that springs shut suddenly.

  2. A stratagem for catching or tricking an unwary person.

  3. A confining or undesirable circumstance from which escape or relief is difficult: fell into poverty's trap.

  4. A device for sealing a passage against the escape of gases, especially a U-shaped or S-shaped bend in a drainpipe that prevents the return flow of sewer gas by means of a water barrier.

  5. Sports

    1. A device that hurls clay pigeons into the air in trapshooting.

    2. A land hazard or bunker on a golf course; a sand trap.

    3. traps A measured length of roadway over which electronic timers register the speed of a racing vehicle, such as a dragster.

    4. A defensive strategy or play, as in basketball or hockey, in which two or more defenders converge on an offensive player shortly after the player gains possession of the ball or puck.

    5. The act of trapping a soccer ball.

  6. Baseball See web.

  7. Sports

    1. A defensive strategy or play, as in basketball or hockey, in which two or more defenders converge on an offensive player shortly after the player gains possession of the ball or puck.

    2. The act of trapping a soccer ball.

  8. Football A running play in which the ball carrier advances through a hole in the defensive line created by allowing a defensive lineman to penetrate the backfield.

  9. A light two-wheeled carriage with springs.

  10. A trapdoor.

  11. traps Music Percussion instruments, such as snare drums and cymbals, especially in a jazz band.

  12. Slang The human mouth.

v.   trapped, trap·ping, traps

v.   tr.

  1. To catch in a trap; ensnare. See Synonyms at catch.

  2. To prevent from escaping or getting free: was trapped in the locked attic.

  3. To deceive or trick by mans of a scheme or plan.

  4. To seal off (gases) by a trap.

  5. To furnish with traps or a trap.

  6. Sports

    1. To catch (a ball) immediately after it has hit the ground.

    2. To gain control of (a moving soccer ball) by allowing it to hit and bounce off a part of the body other than the arm or hand.

v.   intr.

  1. To set traps for game.

  2. To engage in trapping furbearing animals.


[Middle English, from Old English træppe.]
trap 2   (trāp)   
n.  Personal belongings or household goods. Often used in the plural.
tr.v.   trapped, trap·ping, traps
To furnish with trappings.

[Middle English trap, trapping, perhaps alteration of Old French drap, cloth, from Late Latin drappus.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
trap

  1. n.
    the mouth. (Crude.) : Put this in your trap and chew it up.
  2. n.
    a low place; a dive. : This trap is a mess. Clean it up!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

trap  (n.)
late O.E. træppe "snare, trap," from P.Gmc. *trap- (cf. M.Du. trappe "trap, snare"), related to Gmc. words for "stair, step, tread" (cf. M.Du., M.L.G. trappe, treppe, Ger. Treppe "step, stair"). Probably connected to O.Fr. trape, Sp. trampa "trap, pit, snare," but the exact relationship is uncertain. The connecting notion seems to be "that on which an animal steps." Sense of "deceitful practice, trickery" is first recorded 1681. Sense in speed trap recorded from 1906. Slang meaning "mouth" is from 1776. The verb is attested from 1393 (O.E. had betræppan); trap door is first attested c.1374. Trapper "one who traps animals" (for fur, etc.) is recorded from 1768.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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