trap

trap¹ [træp] n

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1¦(for animals)¦

2¦(clever trick)¦

3¦(bad situation)¦

4 fall into/avoid the trap of doing something

5 keep your trap shut

6 shut your trap!

7¦(vehicle)¦

8¦(sport)¦

9¦(dog race)¦

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[: Old English; Origin: trAppe, treppe]

1.) ¦(FOR ANIMALS)¦

a piece of equipment for catching animals

▪ The only way to catch mice is to set a trap.

▪ He stepped into a bear trap covered in snow.

→↑mousetrap

2.) ¦(CLEVER TRICK)¦

a clever trick that is used to catch someone or to make them do or say something that they did not intend to

lay/set a trap (for sb)

▪ Mr Smith has walked straight into a trap laid by the Tories.

fall/walk into a trap

▪ Police had set a trap for hooligans at the match.

3.) ¦(BAD SITUATION)¦

an unpleasant or difficult situation that is difficult to escape from

▪ Amanda felt that marriage was a trap.

debt/unemployment etc trap

▪ people caught in the unemployment trap

4.) fall into/avoid the trap of doing sth

to do something that seems good at the time but is not sensible or wise, or to avoid doing this

▪ Don't fall into the trap of investing all your money in one place.

5.) keep your trap shut

spoken a rude way of telling someone to not say anything about things that are secret

▪ Just keep your trap shut.

6.) shut your trap!

spoken a rude way of telling someone to stop talking

7.) ¦(VEHICLE)¦

a vehicle with two wheels, pulled by a horse

8.) ¦(SPORT)¦

AmE ↑sandtrap

British Equivalent: bunker

9.) ¦(DOG RACE)¦

a special gate from which a ↑greyhound is set free at the beginning of a race

→↑booby trap, ↑death trap,poverty trap at ↑poverty, ↑speed trap, ↑tourist trap

trap ²

trap² S3 past tense and past participle trapped present participle trapping

v [T]

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1¦(in a dangerous place)¦

2¦(in a bad situation)¦

3¦(animal)¦

4¦(catch somebody)¦

5¦(trick)¦

6¦(crush)¦

7¦(gas/water etc)¦

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1.) ¦(IN A DANGEROUS PLACE)¦ [usually passive]

to prevent someone from escaping from somewhere, especially a dangerous place

▪ Twenty miners were trapped underground.

▪ Dozens of people were trapped in the rubble when the building collapsed.

▪ There's no way out! We're trapped!

2.) ¦(IN A BAD SITUATION)¦

be/feel trapped

to be in a bad situation from which you cannot escape

be/feel trapped in

▪ Julia felt trapped in her role of wife and mother.

3.) ¦(ANIMAL)¦

to catch an animal or bird using a trap

4.) ¦(CATCH SOMEBODY)¦

to catch someone by forcing them into a place from which they cannot escape

▪ The police trapped the terrorists at a roadblock.

5.) ¦(TRICK)¦

to trick someone so that you make them do or say something that they did not intend to

trap sb into (doing) sth

▪ I was trapped into signing a confession.

6.) ¦(CRUSH)¦

BrE to get a part of your body crushed between two objects

American Equivalent: pinch

▪ Mind you don't trap your fingers in the door.

▪ pain from a trapped nerve

7.) ¦(GAS/WATER ETC)¦

to prevent something such as gas or water from getting away

▪ solar panels that trap the sun's heat