Trap Definition | Definition of Trap at Dictionary.com

trap

1 [trap]

,noun, verb, trapped, trap⋅ping.

–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.

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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.) < ?

trap

3 [trap]

–noun Geology.

any of various fine-grained, dark-colored igneous rocks having a more or less columnar structure, esp. some form of basalt.

Also called traprock.

Origin:
1785–95; < Sw trapp, var. of trappa stair (so named from the stepped appearance of their outcrops) < MLG trappe. See trap ¹

trap

4 [trap]

–noun Scot.

a ladder or ladderlike device used to reach a loft, attic, etc.

Origin:
1750–60; < D: stepladder; see trap ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To trap

trap¹ (trāp)

A contrivance for catching and holding animals, as a concealed pit or a clamplike device that springs shut suddenly.
A stratagem for catching or tricking an unwary person.
A confining or undesirable circumstance from which escape or relief is difficult: fell into poverty's trap.
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.
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.
Baseball See web.
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.
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.
A light two-wheeled carriage with springs.
A trapdoor.
traps Music Percussion instruments, such as snare drums and cymbals, especially in a jazz band.
Slang The human mouth.

v. trapped, trap·ping, traps

v. tr.

To catch in a trap; ensnare. See Synonyms at catch.
To prevent from escaping or getting free: was trapped in the locked attic.
To deceive or trick by mans of a scheme or plan.
To seal off (gases) by a trap.
To furnish with traps or a trap.
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.

To set traps for game.
To engage in trapping furbearing animals.

[Middle English, from Old English træppe.]

trap² (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.]

trap³ (trāp)

n. Any of several dark, fine-grained igneous rocks often used in making roads.

[Swedish trapp, from trappa, step, from Middle Low German trappe.]

web (wěb)

1. A woven fabric, especially one on a loom or just removed from it.
2. The structural part of cloth.
A latticed or woven structure: A web of palm branches formed the roof of the hut.
A structure of delicate, threadlike filaments characteristically spun by spiders or certain insect larvae.
Something intricately contrived, especially something that ensnares or entangles: caught in a web of lies.
A complex, interconnected structure or arrangement: a web of telephone wires.
often Web The World Wide Web.
A radio or television network.
A membrane or fold of skin connecting the toes, as of certain amphibians, birds, and mammals.
The barbs on each side of the shaft of a bird's feather; a vane.
Baseball A piece of leather or leather mesh that fills the space between the thumb and forefinger of a baseball glove. Also called trap¹, webbing.
Architecture A space or compartment between the ribs or groins of a vault. Also called cell.
A metal sheet or plate connecting the heavier sections, ribs, or flanges of a structural element.
A thin metal plate or strip, as the bit of a key or the blade of a saw.
A large continuous roll of paper, such as newsprint, either in the process of manufacture or as it is fed into a web press.

tr.v. webbed, web·bing, webs

To provide with a web.
To cover or envelop with a web.
To ensnare in a web.

[Middle English, from Old English; see webh- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: The word Web is usually capitalized when referring to the World Wide Web: Many sites on the Web have information about used cars. In this use, however, the word is increasingly found lowercase, and this usage may become dominant. See Usage Note at website.

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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Trap

Trap\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trapped; p. pr. & vb. n. Trapping.] [Akin to OE. trappe trappings, and perhaps from an Old French word of the same origin as E. drab a kind of cloth.] To dress with ornaments; to adorn; -- said especially of horses.

Steeds . . . that trapped were in steel all glittering. --Chaucer.

To deck his hearse, and trap his tomb-black steed. --Spenser.

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

Trap

Trap\, n. [Sw. trapp; akin to trappa stairs, Dan. trappe, G. treppe, D. trap; -- so called because the rocks of this class often occur in large, tabular masses, rising above one another, like steps. See Tramp.] (Geol.) An old term rather loosely used to designate various dark-colored, heavy igneous rocks, including especially the feldspathic-augitic rocks, basalt, dolerite, amygdaloid, etc., but including also some kinds of diorite. Called also trap rock.

Trap tufa, Trap tuff, a kind of fragmental rock made up of fragments and earthy materials from trap rocks.

Trap

Trap\, a. Of or pertaining to trap rock; as, a trap dike.

Trap

Trap\, n. [OE. trappe, AS. treppe; akin to OD. trappe, OHG. trapo; probably fr. the root of E. tramp, as that which is trod upon: cf. F. trappe, which is trod upon: cf. F. trappe, which perhaps influenced the English word.]

1. A machine or contrivance that shuts suddenly, as with a spring, used for taking game or other animals; as, a trap for foxes.

She would weep if that she saw a mouse Caught in a trap. --Chaucer.

2. Fig.: A snare; an ambush; a stratagem; any device by which one may be caught unawares.

Let their table be made a snare and a trap. --Rom. xi. 9.

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

3. A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball. It consists of a pivoted arm on one end of which is placed the ball to be thrown into the air by striking the other end. Also, a machine for throwing into the air glass balls, clay pigeons, etc., to be shot at.

4. The game of trapball.

5. A bend, sag, or partitioned chamber, in a drain, soil pipe, sewer, etc., arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents passage of air or gas, but permits the flow of liquids.

6. A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for want of an outlet.

7. A wagon, or other vehicle. [Colloq.] --Thackeray.

8. A kind of movable stepladder. --Knight.

Trap stairs, a staircase leading to a trapdoor.

Trap tree (Bot.) the jack; -- so called because it furnishes a kind of birdlime. See 1st Jack.

Trap

Trap\, v. t. [AS. treppan. See Trap a snare.]

1. To catch in a trap or traps; as, to trap foxes.

2. Fig.: To insnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap. "I trapped the foe." --Dryden.

3. To provide with a trap; as, to trap a drain; to trap a sewer pipe. See 4th Trap, 5.

Trap

Trap\, v. i. To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; as, to trap for beaver.

Language Translation for : trap

Spanish: trampa,

German: die Falle,

Japanese: わな

More Translations »

trap

1. n. A program interrupt, usually an interrupt caused by some exceptional situation in the user program. In most cases, the OS performs some action, then returns control to the program.
2. vi. To cause a trap. "These instructions trap to the monitor." Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the trap. "The monitor traps all input/output instructions."

This term is associated with assembler programming (`interrupt' or `exception' is more common among HLL programmers) and appears to be fading into history among programmers as the role of assembler continues to shrink. However, it is still important to computer architects and systems hackers (see system, sense 1), who use it to distinguish deterministically repeatable exceptions from timing-dependent ones (such as I/O interrupts).

Jargon File 4.2.0
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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.

trap
1. A program interrupt, usually an interrupt caused by some exceptional situation in the user program. In most cases, the OS performs some action, then returns control to the program.
2. To cause a trap. "These instructions trap to the monitor." Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the trap. "The monitor traps all input/output instructions."
This term is associated with assembler programming ("interrupt" or "exception" is more common among HLL programmers) and appears to be fading into history among programmers as the role of assembler continues to shrink. However, it is still important to computer architects and systems hackers (see system, sense 1), who use it to distinguish deterministically repeatable exceptions from timing-dependent ones (such as I/O interrupts).
[The Jargon File]

trap

see fall into a trap; mind like a steel trap.

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