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trapan

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trapan¹

  • /tɹəˈpæn/ US, UK

Rhymes with -æn

Where it comes from

The origin of the noun is uncertain; etymology 1, noun sense 2 (“person that traps or tricks another”), the original sense, was probably thieves’ cant and may be derived from trap (noun or verb). Etymology 1, noun sense 1 (“act of entrapping or tricking; thing which entraps or tricks”) is from the verb.

The verb is derived from etymology 1, noun sense 2 of the noun.

noun trapans · trepan

  1. An act of entrapping or tricking; an entrapment; also, a thing which entraps or tricks; a snare or trap; a stratagem or trick. As for all other Pretences, they are nothing but Death and Damnation, dreſſed up in Fair VVords and Falſe Shevvs; nothing but Ginns, and Snares, and Trepans for Souls; Contrived by the Devil, and Managed by ſuch as the Devil ſets on VVork.
  2. archaic, obsolete A person (or occasionally an animal) that traps or tricks another into doing something that benefits them but harms the victim; a fraudster, a swindler, a trickster. [O]ld associates who had once thought him [Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston] a man of dauntless courage and spotless honour, […] now pronounced that he was at best a meanspirited coward, and hinted their suspicions that he had been from the beginning a spy and a trepan.

    Similar: bunco-steerer, charlatan, cheat, jackal, cheater, chiseler, cozener, defrauder, finagler, fleecer, fraud, fraudmeister

verb trapans · trapanning · trapanned · trepan

  1. transitive To catch or entrap (a person or animal) in a snare or trap; to ensnare, to trap. Each of 'em has a ſev'ral Gin, / To catch Intelligences in. / Some by the Noſe vvith fumes trapan' 'em, / As Dunſtan did the Devils Grannum.
  2. figuratively, transitive To trap or trick (someone), especially by using some stratagem, into doing something that benefits the perpetrator but harms the victim; to defraud, to ensnare, to entrap, to swindle. […] [Edmund] Plovvden being of the Romiſh perſvvaſion, ſome Setters trapanned him (pardon the prolepſis) to hear Maſſe: But aftervvards Plovvden underſtanding, that the pretender to Officiate vvas no Prieſt, but a meer Lay-man (on deſigne to make a diſcovering) Oh! The caſe is altered quoth Plovvden

trapan²

  • /tɹəˈpæn/ US, UK

Rhymes with -æn

Where it comes from

See trepan.

noun trapans

  1. alternative, transitive Alternative spelling of trepan (“surgical instrument used to remove a small section of bone, usually from the skull; tool used to bore through rock, etc.”).

verb trapans · trapanning · trapanned

  1. alternative, transitive Alternative spelling of trepan (“to cut through bone, usually the skull, using a trepan (etymology 2, noun sense); to create a large hole by making a narrow groove outlining the shape of the hole and then removing the plug of material”)

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{trapan_2026,
  title = {trapan},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/trapan},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}