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trap

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trap¹

  • /tɹæp/
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔æp] Australia, US
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ap] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔äp] Northern England
  • [tɾäp] Scotland
  • [tɾap] Wales
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ɛp] New Zealand

Rhymes with -æp

Where it comes from

From Middle English trappe, from Old English træppe, treppe (“trap, snare”) (also in betræppan (“to trap”)) from Proto-West Germanic *trappjā (“trap, snare”), from Proto-West Germanic *trappjan (“to step”), from Proto-Germanic *trapjaną (“to tread, stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ- (“to step, trip, trample”).

Cognate with Dutch trap (“step, stair”), German Low German Trapp (“step, stair”). Akin also to West Frisian traap (“stepping, treading, stairway”), German Treppe (“step, stair”), Old English træppan (“to step, tread”). Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". French trappe and Spanish trampa are ultimately borrowings from Germanic.

noun traps

  1. countable, uncountable 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.

    Similar: snare, fang

  2. countable, uncountable 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.
  3. broadly, countable, uncountable A (usually fictional) location or feature originally added to a map to detect plagiarism and copyright violations by other map makers or map services. trap street
  4. countable, derogatory, informal, offensive, slang, sometimes Someone with male-typical anatomy who passes as female. And trust me you don't want to see a trap ether. I like my girls without a ding-a-ling.
  5. countable, informal, slang, uncountable A fictional character from anime, or related media, who is coded as or has qualities typically associated with a gender other than the character's ostensible gender; otokonoko, josou. Bridget is the super trap
  6. countable, uncountable An exception generated by the processor or by an external event.
  7. countable, uncountable Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object. They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap.
  8. countable, uncountable A covering over a hole or opening; a trapdoor. Close the trap, would you, before someone falls and breaks their neck.
  9. archaic, countable, uncountable A kind of movable stepladder or set of stairs. There is likewise a cabin trap with five steps.
  10. countable, uncountable A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for lack of an outlet.
  11. countable, uncountable A geological structure that creates a petroleum reservoir.
  12. countable, uncountable A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball.
  13. countable, uncountable The game of trapball itself.
  14. US, also, attributive, countable, slang, uncountable A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold. trap phone
  15. US, also, attributive, countable, slang, uncountable An area, especially of a city, with a low level of opportunity and a high level of poverty and crime; a ghetto; a hood. Maybe T.I was also making connection between fur trapping and living in the trap, or the hood.
  16. uncountable A genre of hip-hop music, with half-time drums and heavy sub-bass.

    Similar: trap music

  17. countable, slang, uncountable A successful landing on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear. After 100 traps, the arresting cables have to be replaced to minimize the danger of a worn or fatigued cable snapping under an aircraft.
  18. countable, historical, uncountable A light two-wheeled carriage with springs. a horse and trap
  19. countable, slang, uncountable A person's mouth. Keep your trap shut.
  20. countable, slang, uncountable Synonym of vagina. But she carries the shawl so well that you never get a peep at her trap until she’s ready to show it to you.

    Similar: vagina

  21. archaic, countable, slang, uncountable A policeman. “He hung about, not to come over here afore dark, but he’ll be here soon,” replied Chitling. “There’s nowhere else to go to now, for the people at the Cripples are all in custody, and the bar of the ken—I went up there and see it with my own eyes—is filled with traps.”
  22. archaic, countable, in plural, uncountable Belongings. ...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)...
  23. countable, slang, uncountable 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.
  24. countable, uncountable Trapshooting.
  25. Australia, countable, historical, slang, uncountable A mining license inspector during the Australian gold rush. 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.
  26. slang, uncountable The money earned by a prostitute for a pimp. The money clip held thirty-nine hundred dollars, combined with her trap money, she had five thousand dollars for her man.

verb traps · trapping · trapped

  1. transitive To physically capture, to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap. to trap foxes
  2. transitive To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap. Be careful not to trap your finger in the door.
  3. transitive To provide with a trap. to trap a drain
  4. intransitive To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; to travel for the purpose of trapping. trap for beaver
  5. intransitive, slang To successfully land an aircraft on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear. After three consecutive bolters, the pilot finally trapped successfully on the Nimitz.

    Opposite: bolter

  6. intransitive To leave suddenly, to flee.
  7. intransitive To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.
  8. dated To attend to and open and close a (trap-)door. For quotations using this term, see Citations:trap.
  9. informal, offensive, slang, sometimes Of a 'trap': to trick a (heterosexual) man into having sex, by appearing to be a woman. Straight cis men persist in believing that my transition is all about them—tricking them, trapping them, ruining them.
  10. intransitive, slang To sell illegal drugs, especially in a public area. My kicks are wet from trappin' in the rain / Stole these Marshall bikes today / But don't walk in the bikers' lane / Or you're gonna catch a deafaz to the brain

trap²

  • /tɹæp/
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔æp] Australia, US
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ap] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔äp] Northern England
  • [tɾäp] Scotland
  • [tɾap] Wales
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ɛp] New Zealand

Rhymes with -æp

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Swedish trapp (“step, stair, stairway”), from Middle Low German trappe (“stair, step”).

noun traps

  1. countable, uncountable A dark coloured igneous rock; (now usually) any nongranitic igneous rock.

    Similar: trap rock, traprock

trap³

  • /tɹæp/
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔æp] Australia, US
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ap] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔äp] Northern England
  • [tɾäp] Scotland
  • [tɾap] Wales
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ɛp] New Zealand

Rhymes with -æp

Where it comes from

Akin to Middle English trappe (“trappings, gear”), and perhaps from Old Northern French trape, a byform of Old French drap, a word of the same origin as English drab (“a kind of cloth”).

verb traps · trapping · trapped

  1. To dress with ornaments; to adorn (especially said of horses). She was all trapped out in the gaudiest of clothes.

trap⁴

  • /tɹæp/
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔æp] Australia, US
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ap] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔äp] Northern England
  • [tɾäp] Scotland
  • [tɾap] Wales
  • [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ɛp] New Zealand

Rhymes with -æp

Where it comes from

Clipping of trapezius.

noun traps

  1. slang The trapezius muscle.

TRAP⁵

noun

  1. US, abbreviation, acronym, uncountable Acronym of targeted regulation of abortion providers In February, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand South Carolina's TRAP law, which imposes 27 pages of requirements on abortion clinics—providing a virtual blueprint for states that want to create constitutional clinic regulations.
  2. abbreviation, acronym, uncountable Acronym of training-repayment-agreement provision
  3. abbreviation, initialism, uncountable Initialism of twin reversed arterial perfusion

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: snare, entrap, ensnare, trammel, pin, hole, bunker, ambuscade, ambush, yap, immobilize, maw, sand trap, mousetrap, noose, pitfall

Translations

Every language

noun trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense

Españoltrampa, trampucheta
日本語罠 wana
中文陷阱 xiànjǐng, 圈套 quāntào
Portuguêsarmadilha, cilada, arapuca
Françaispiège, traquenard, souricière
DeutschFalle
Italianotrappola, tranello
Ελληνικάπαγίδα pagída
Românăcapcană
Русскийлову́шка lovúška, западня́ zapadnjá, капка́н kapkán
العربيةفَخّ faḵḵ

noun device used to hold and suddenly release an object

Kiswahilimtego
Ελληνικάπαγίδα pagída

noun bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe to prevent the escape of noxious gases

Españolsifón, sifa
Portuguêssifão
Françaissiphon
DeutschSiphon, Geruchsverschluss
Ελληνικάσιφώνι sifóni
Русскийсифо́н sifón

noun device designed to catch or kill animals

Españoltrampa, cepo
한국어덫 deot, 올가미 olgami, 함정 hamjeong
日本語罠 wana
中文陷阱 xiànjǐng, 圈套 quāntào
Kiswahilimtego
Portuguêsarmadilha, arapuca
Françaispiège, collet
DeutschFalle
Italianotrappola, tranello
Ελληνικάπαγίδα pagída, δόκανο dókano
Românăcapcană
Русскийлову́шка lovúška, западня́ zapadnjá, капка́н kapkán, сило́к silók
Tiếng Việtbẫy
العربيةفَخّ faḵḵ, مِصْيَدَة miṣyada
עבריתמלכודת, מַלְכֹּדֶת malkódet

noun someone who is anatomically male but who passes as female

Españoltrapito
中文偽娘 /伪娘 wěiniáng
Portuguêstrap
Françaistrap
Русскийтрап trap

noun covering over a hole or opening; trapdoor

Españoltrampa
Portuguêsalçapão
Françaistrappe
DeutschFalltür, Fallgrube
Ελληνικάπαγίδα pagída
Русскийлюк ljuk, лаз laz

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

Españolbombillo, sifón, trampa

noun (historical) light two-wheeled carriage with springs

Françaischarrette anglaise
Русскийдвуко́лка dvukólka

noun slang: mouth

Françaisclapet, gueule
DeutschKlappe, Maul
Русскийпа́сть pástʹ
Tiếng Việtmỏ

verb to catch in a trap or traps

Españolatrapar, atrampar
Portuguêsprender, enredar
Françaispiéger, attraper
Deutschfangen
Italianointrappolare
Ελληνικάπαγιδεύω pagidévo
Tiếng Việtbẫy
עבריתלכד lakhád

verb to ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap

Portuguêsapanhar, armar cilada
Françaispiéger
Italianointrappolare
Ελληνικάπαγιδεύω pagidévo
Tiếng Việtbẫy

verb to provide with a trap

Kiswahilitega

verb to set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game

Españoltrampear
Kiswahilitega
DeutschFallen stellen
Ελληνικάστήνω παγίδες stíno pagídes

verb computing:to capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it

Françaisintercepter

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"trap." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/trap. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

trap. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/trap

Chicago

"trap." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/trap.

BibTeX
@misc{trap_2026,
  title = {trap},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/trap},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}