trap
trap1 definition
trap (trap)
noun
- any device for catching animals, as one that snaps shut tightly when stepped on, or a pitfall; gin, snare, etc.
- any stratagem or ambush designed to catch or trick unsuspecting persons
- any of various devices for preventing the escape of gas, offensive odors, etc.; specif., a -shaped or -shaped part of a drainpipe, in which standing water seals off sewer gas
- an apparatus for throwing disks into the air to be shot at in trapshooting
- a light, two-wheeled carriage with springs
- trapdoor
- ☆
- a set of various percussion instruments, as cymbals, blocks, and bells, used with a set of drums, as in a jazz band
- these percussion instruments and the set of drums considered as a unit
- Slang the mouth, specif. as the organ of speech
- Golf sand trap
Etymology: ME trappe < OE træppe, akin to treppan, to step, Ger treppe, stairway < IE *dreb-, to run, step, trip (var. of base *drā-) > Pol drabina, ladder
transitive verb trapped, trapping trap′·ping
- to catch in or as in a trap; entrap
- to hold back or seal off by a trap
- to furnish with a trap or traps
- ☆ to catch (a batted ball in baseball or a thrown ball in football) just as it rebounds from the ground rather than just before it strikes the ground
intransitive verb
- to set traps for game
- ☆ to trap animals, esp. for their furs
trap2 definition
trap (trap)
noun
- any of several dark-colored, usually fine-grained, extrusive igneous rocks; esp., such a rock, as basalt, used in road making
- a geologic structure forming a reservoir enclosing an accumulation of oil or gas
Etymology: Swed trapp < trappa, stair (akin to trap), in reference to its appearance
trap3 definition
trap (trap)
transitive verb trapped, trapping trap′·ping
to cover, equip, or adorn with trappings; caparison
Etymology: ME trappen < trappe, trappings < OFr drap, cloth: see drape
noun
- Obsolete an ornamental covering for a horse
- Informal a person's clothes, personal belongings, etc.
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