trap

Etymology 1

From Middle English trappe, from Old English træppe, treppe (“trap, snare”) (also in betræppan (“to trap”)) from Proto-Germanic *trap-, from Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ- (“to step, trip, trample”). Akin to Old High German trappa, trapa (“trap, snare”), Middle Dutch trappe (“trap, snare”), Middle Low German treppe (“step, stair”) (German Treppe "step, stair"), Old English treppan (“to step, tread”). Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". French trappe and Spanish trampa are ultimately borrowings from Germanic.

noun

1. 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.
   The Russian bear has always been eager to stick his paw in Latin American waters. Now we've got him in a trap, let's take his leg off right up to his testicles. On second thought, let's take off his testicles, too. 1995, Richard Rhodes, quoting Curtis LeMay, “Scorpions in a Bottle”, in Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, New York: Simon & Schuster, page 574
2. 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. A covering over a hole or opening; a trapdoor.
   Close the trap, would you, before someone falls and breaks their neck.
4. (now rare) A kind of movable stepladder or set of stairs.
   There is likewise a cabin trap with five steps. 1798 January 3, Edinburgh Weekly Journal, page 5
   I have to bear my burthen up four traps, or ladders, before I get to the main road which leads to the pit bottom. 1842, Ellison Jack (girl, age 11), quoted in The Condition and Treatment of the Children Employed in the Mines, page 48
   They have very generally received the name of trap-rocks, because they often present the appearance of traps or stairs. 1847, David Low, Elements of Practical Agriculture, page 37
   Little Alf turned at once, and bidding Frank good-bye, he went into the house, and climbed up the trap stair into his little room in the garret, and pondered in his heart these words of Dolly's. 1867, The Children's hour, page 137
   The labour and time that are saved by thus concentrating and placing the heating power in doing away with the running to so many points, and up and down so many stairs or traps in attending to a number of fires, is also well worth noticing. 1875, The Gardner: A Magazine of Horticulture and Floriculture, page 3
   Coming near the door, Scorgie cautioned quietness, and pointing to a trap stair he motioned Mr. Love and Donald to ascend to the loft. 1887, George G. Green, Gordonhaven, page 114
   Had climbed up the trap-stair, and was busy potterin' aboot. 1889 (original 1886), Willock, Rosetty Ends, 29
   Tossing, the negro walks up the trap-ladder. But the emotions of a drunkard change quickly. 1920, Soviet Russia, page 14
   The stokers, breaking into excited talk, picked him up and dragged him up the trap ladder to the deck. The Canadian wiped the blood off Petka's injured forehead ... 1960, Bernard Guilbert Guerney, An Anthology of Russian Literature in the Soviet Period from Gorki to Pasternak
5. A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball.
6. The game of trapball itself.
7. Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.
   They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap.
8. A bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents the escape of noxious gases, but permits the flow of liquids.
9. A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for lack of an outlet.
10. (aviation, military, slang) 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.
11. (historical) A light two-wheeled carriage with springs.
    a horse and trap
    However, Anyon Kay remembers a Mr Walton Ainsworth, of Beech House, Rivington, who owned mills in Bolton, being a regular user before the First World War. He used to drive by horse and trap from his mansion to catch the 0906 train to Bolton each day. Before arriving at the station, local newsagent Tom Dutton would hand Mr Ainsworth his morning paper! March 8 2023, Paul Salveson, “Fond farewells to two final trains...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 54
12. (slang) A person's mouth.
    Keep your trap shut.
13. (slang) 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. 1941, Henry Miller, Under the Roofs of Paris (Opus Pistorum), New York: Grove Press, published 1983, page 66
14. (slang, archaic) A policeman.
15. (in the plural, archaic) 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)... 1870, Mark Twain, Running for Governor
    "Carry your traps out, Ma?" asked one of the passengers. 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter IX, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 144
16. (slang) 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.
17. (sports) Trapshooting.
18. (geology) A geological structure that creates a petroleum reservoir.
19. (computing) An exception generated by the processor or by an external event.
20. (Australia, slang, historical) 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. 1996, Judith Kapferer, Being All Equal: Identity, Difference and Australian Cultural Practice, page 84
    Diggers were angered by frequent licence inspections and harassment by 'the traps' (the goldfield police). 2006, Helen Calvert, Jenny Herbst, Ross Smith, Australia and the World: Thinking Historically, page 55
21. (US, slang, African-American Vernacular, also attributive) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.
    trap phone
    trap car
22. (US, slang, African-American Vernacular, also attributive) 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. 2018, Kyle T. Mays, Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in North America, page 93
    Stay in the trap like my name was McCaulk. Dumb-ahh nigger, I think he meant Culkin. 2021-11-19, “Pink 3 Remix”performed by PCAJAY
    Bitch ass nigga get rocked. I walk in da trap with a Glock and a K in my sock. U fag ass nigga get popped. U a gay lil dumb ahh nigga came from TikTok. I'mma talk my shi won't stop. Bitch u all on my dick for a drop, nigga get off my cock. 2022-09-25, “Dork”performed by Aeterluv
23. (music, uncountable) A genre of hip-hop music, with half-time drums and heavy sub-bass.
24. (slang, informal, sometimes offensive, sometimes derogatory) Someone who is anatomically male but 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. 27 May 2011, “Re: anons target US chamber”, in alt.2600 (Usenet)
    man says he isn't a fag when asking to masturbate with my body. positions himself as conqueror, calls my body trick, trap, tranny. man fucks witch embarrassed by his own release […] 2020, jaye simpson, it was never going to be okay, Harbour Publishing
    “My son is a tranny.” “No, mother dear, I'm a Trap. There is a difference. You should have knocked before you came in.” 'Trap'? For all she knew about terms for cross-dressers he could have said he was a splurge monkey or yiff jumper and it would have meant the same. […] "Now I'm Poppy. I'm a boy who's androgynous enough to be confused as a girl[.]" 2021, Coulsdon Writers, Back to the Writing, page 37
    , Klei Nightwriter, The Book of Voltaire: The Complete Bundle (Season 1) 3rd Edition REVISED, Klei Nightwriter I love femboys better than trannies, traps are better than futa anyway. We conversed and we started to get close. I chose her. So, she told me to sit down so she can cut my hair. "I want to dye my hair; how much is that?"
25. (slang, informal, sometimes considered offensive) 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.
    One way to spot a trap is to look for an adam's apple. 2013, One Piece: Grand Line 3 Point 5, page 47
    Of course Kei would look like a young woman, that's how traps work! 20 July 2010, Antonio E. Gonzalez, “Re:Moyashimon Live Action”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet)
    I saw Episode 10 of the anime today. When it explains about the trap's problems in HS it was much clearer than the same section of the manga. 7 September 2013, Bobbie Sellers, “Re: What's your favouite anime?”, in rec.arts.manga (Usenet)
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. 2010, C. J. Land, A Hustler's Tale, page 54
    The code was to call a pimp and tell him you have his hoe plus turn over her night trap but that was bull because the HOE was out of his stable months before I copped her. 2011, Shaheem Hargrove, Sharice Cuthrell, The Rise and Fall of a Ghetto Celebrity, page 55
    For the first time in the week since she'd been hooking she hadn't made her trap. 2012 (original 1981), Alix Kates Shulman, On the Stroll: A Novel, Open Road Media

verb

1. (transitive) To physically capture, to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap.
   to trap foxes
   As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time. 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist
2. (transitive) To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.
3. (transitive) To provide with a trap.
   to trap a drain
   to trap a sewer pipe
4. (intransitive) To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; to travel for the purpose of trapping.
   trap for beaver
   They trapped north along the river.
5. (aviation, military, slang, intransitive) 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.
6. (intransitive) To leave suddenly, to flee.
7. (US, slang, informal, African-American Vernacular, intransitive) To sell illegal drugs, especially in a public area.
8. (computing, intransitive) To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.
9. (mining, dated) To attend to and open and close a (trap-)door.
   For quotations using this term, see Citations:trap.
10. (slang, informal, sometimes offensive) 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. 2016, Stefan Horlacher, Transgender and Intersex: Theoretical, Practical, and Artistic Perspectives, Palgrave Macmillan US, page 92
    A "trap" is basically a trans girl or crossdresser who "tricks" or "traps" a straight male into getting aroused by them and then suddenly reveals their trans status. 2019, Rachel Anne Williams, Transgressive: A Trans Woman on Gender, Feminism, and Politics, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, page 32
    the Western pornography genre in which a straight man believes he is being seduced by a cis woman, and by the time he discovers she is trans has been “trapped” by his lust into having a sexual encounter with her. 2020, Natalie Boero, The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Body and Embodiment, Little, Brown and Company, pages 211–212

Etymology 2

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

noun

1. A dark coloured igneous rock, now used to designate any non-granitic igneous rock; trap rock.

Etymology 3

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

1. To dress with ornaments; to adorn (especially said of horses).

Etymology 4

Shortening.

noun

1. (slang, bodybuilding, anatomy) The trapezius muscle.