| 释义 |
▪ I. trap, n.1|træp|
Forms: 1 treppe, træppe, 3–5, 7 trapp, 4–6 trappe, 4– trap.
[Late (and rare) OE. treppe, træppe (in coltetræppe), ME. trappe, trapp, agrees in form and sense with rare MDu. trappe trap, gin, snare, mod.WFlem. traap, trape (De Bo), in Kilian, 1599, ‘trappe (old word) mouse-trap, trap’; also with med.L. trappa, trapa, in Salic Law vii. 10 (MSS. of 8–9th c.), ‘trap’, OF. trape (12th c.), F. trappe, Prov. trapa, Pg. trapa, Sp. trampa; cf. also It. trappola (dim. of *trappa); all in sense ‘trap, pitfall, gin, snare’. The relations between the Romanic words and the Du. and Fl., and the relation of the latter to MDu. and MLG. trappe, treppe ‘step, stair’, are difficult to determine: see Note below.]
1. a. A contrivance set for catching game or noxious animals; a gin, snare, pitfall: cf. man-trap n., mouse-trap, rat-trap, spring-trap.
In the common type, a spring or other device, released by the animal treading upon it, shuts the latter in, or catches hold of some part of it, in this case often killing it.
a1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 95/13 Ic beswice fuᵹelas hwilon mid neton . mid grinum,..mid treppan (decipula). c1386Chaucer Prol. 145 She wolde wepe if that she saw a mous Kaught in a trappe. 1483Cath. Angl. 391/2 A Trapp (A. Trape), decipula, pedica. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop i. xviii, The same lyon was take at a grete trappe. 1538Elyot, Decipula, a grynne [ed. 1545 gyn] or trap to take byrdes. 1577Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. 156 b, I would rather counsell you to destroy your Rattes and Mise with Traps. 1597G. Harvey Trimming Nashe Wks. (Grosart) III. 48 How happie the Rat caught in a trappe, and there dies a living death? 1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 177 We haue..pretty traps to catch the petty theeues. 1611Bible Jer. v. 26 They lay waite as hee that setteth snares, they set a trap, they catch men. 1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. §72 It catcheth his hand as a Trap doth a Fox. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 171, I set three Traps..and going the next Morning I found them all standing, and yet the Bait eaten and gone. 1791W. H. Marshall W. England (1796) II. 256 The Salmon Fishery of the Tavey... At one end of the dam, is a ‘weir house’ or Trap; on the principle of the vermin trap, whose entrance is outwardly large, but contracted inwardly, so as to..prevent the escape of the animal which has taken it. 1857Tennyson Geraint & Enid 1571 A sudden sharp and bitter cry, As of a wild thing taken in the trap. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 252 Fish Traps... Shrimp Trap. Eel Trap. Crab Traps. 19..Trade Catal., Patent automatic mouse trap. Balloon fly traps. Beetle trap. Patent trap for catching rats, stoats, weasel, rabbits, badger, otter, and other vermin and animals, also..all kinds of birds.
b. transf. and fig., and in fig. expressions.
Often applied to anything by which a person is unsuspectingly caught, stopped, or caused to fall; also to anything which attracts by its apparent easiness and proves to be difficult, anything deceptive.
c1200Ormin 12301 He fandeþþ þa to lacchenn þe þurrh trapp off modiȝnesse. c1386Chaucer Frankl. T. 613 She wende neuere han come in swich a trappe. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. 2659 Ȝif þei myȝt cacche hym in a trappe. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (Percy Soc.) 64 Sodaynly my herte was in a trap By Venus caught. 1611Bible Rom. xi. 9 Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling blocke. 1654Bramhall Just Vind. iii. (1661) 40 The cruel statute of the Six Articles; which he made..as a trap to catch the lives of the Poor Protestants. 1765Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) II. viii. 30 Let her lay traps for admiration. 1879Dixon Windsor I. ii. 15 He resolved to take the Scottish invader in a trap. 1883E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 377 Two deep, hidden grips in midfield were nasty traps for blown horses.
c. Popularly applied to a police arrangement for the timing of motorists over a measured distance, in order to secure the conviction of such as exceed the legal speed-limit. Also police-trap.
1906Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 4/2 The fear of the traps and the consequent fines is..an inducement to avoid tours in England... Car owners do not care to take the risks of the traps.
d. A device which allows a pigeon to enter but not to escape from a pigeon loft.
1876R. Fulton Illustr. Bk. Pigeons 274 Let the board, upon which the birds alight (when the trap is closed and admission only to be obtained through the bolting wires) be carried upon a pair of hinges. 1912W. E. Barker Pigeon Racing i. 5 Others..swear by a steeply sloping roof..to compel the birds to drop upon a trap or alighting board. 1961H. Blunt Tackle Pigeon Racing this Way iii. 30 The trap can be made of stout galvanized wire,..curved to facilitate use by the birds without injury.
2. a. A movable covering of a pit, or of an opening in a floor, designed to fall when stepped upon; hence applied to any similar door flush with the surface in a floor, ceiling, roof, the top of a cab, or the like: cf. trap-door.
13..Coer de L. 4093 Doun ye scholde fallen there, In a pyt syxty fadme deep: Therfore beware,..At the passing of the trappe, Many on has had ful evyl happe. c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 692 (741) And with þat word he gan vn-do a trappe, And Troylus he brought In by þe lappe. 1470–85Malory Arthur xix. vii. 784 Sir launcelot that no peryl dredde..trade on a trap and the bord rollyd, and there sir Launcelot felle doune more than ten fadom in to a caue ful of strawe. 1682Dryden Mac Fl. 212 Bruce and Longville had a trap prepared, And down they sent the yet declaiming bard. 1800in S. Rosenfeld Temples of Thespis (1978) x. 149 Theatre traps and cutting out bricks. 1838Dickens O. Twist ix, He..drew forth..from some trap in the floor: a small box. 1879F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. ii. vi, ‘All right’, said the cabman..as he closed the trap. 1904Kipling in Windsor Mag. Jan. 228/2 Pyecroft..rising like a fairy from a pantomime trap. 1907H. Wales The Yoke xviii, He pushed up the trap with his umbrella: ‘Stop at the first jeweller's’, he said to the [cab] driver. 1977S. Brett Star Trap xiii. 142 The stage..had been equipped with the full complement of trap doors... Downstage were the corner traps, small openings used for the appearance or disappearance of one actor... Then there was the Grave Trap centre stage..always used for the Gravediggers' scene in Hamlet.
b. The mouth, esp. in phrr.: shut your trap! be quiet!; to keep one's trap shut, to remain silent. slang.
1776E. Gibbon Let. 19 Dec. (1896) I. 298 You may say in general in the family (if any should bark) that you are satisfied with my conduct, and order them to shut their trap. [1785,1860: see potato-trap s.v. potato n. 7.] 1866J. T. Staton Rays fro' Loominary 90 Shut thy trap, fayther. 1899Star of Hope 12 Aug. 1/1 Why in h― don't those recruits..keep their traps shut? 1939A. Huxley After Many a Summer ii. i. 187 If only the rest were silence! But that's the trouble with poets... They will not keep their traps shut, as we say in the Western hemisphere. 1959J. Braine Vodi xxiv. 255 ‘Shut your bloody trap,’ Dick said. 1981M. Duffy Gor Saga ii. 48 If Emily should open her great trap and spill the lot she could find herself deep in trouble.
3. a. The pivoted wooden instrument with which the ball is thrown up in the game of trap-ball, q.v.; hence by extension, the game itself.
1591[implied in trapstick]. 1598Florio, Lippa, a trap or cat, such as children play at. Ibid., Trappola... Also a play that children vse called trap. 1637Shirley Hyde Park ii. iv. D iv, I have heard you..in your younger [days] could play at trap well. 1652J. Taylor (Water P.) Journ. Wales (1859) 26 The..laudable games of trapp, catt, stool-ball, racket, etc. 1719D'Urfey Pills III. 162 We merrily Play At Trap. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. ii. iii. §20 The trap..is generally made in the form of a shoe, the heel part being hollowed out for the reception of the ball; but boys and..rustics, who cannot readily procure a trap, content themselves with making a round hole in the ground.
b. trap (bat) and ball: = trap-ball.
1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 430 A game at trap-and-ball. 1868Hughes Tom Brown (ed. 6) Pref. 11 Playing trap-bat-and-ball. 1877Cornh. Mag. XXXVI. 368 To play trap-and-ball with Robin and Jack.
4. a. A device for suddenly releasing or throwing into the air an object to be shot at, as a pigeon.
1812Sporting Mag. XL. 41 The trap was twenty-one yards from the gun. 1813Ibid. XLI. 84 The parties fired with double-barrelled guns at two pigeons from a trap. 1892Greener Breech Loader 234 It is wise to shoot pigeons at recognised clubs only..or experience at the trap may be very dearly bought.
b. In greyhound-racing, the compartment from which a dog is released at the start of a race.
1928A. R. D. Cardew Greyhound Racing 13 The owner..is invited..to attend the draw for trap places 1 to 6, No 1 being the inside trap. Ibid. 18 (caption) Leaving the starting trap. 1954R. Dahl Someone like You 251 The traps went up and the dogs flew out. 1977Listener 30 June 847/3 The dogs barked in their traps. Then the hare was running..and the dogs were out.
5. colloq. or slang. Deceitful practice; trickery; fraud. to understand trap, to know one's own interest; to be up to trap, to be knowing or cunning.
1681T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 5 (1713) I. 30 Well, Brother, I understand Trap. a1734North Exam. iii. vii. §63 (1740) 549 Some cunning Persons, that had found out his..Ignorance of Trap,..put him in great Fright, telling him he would certainly be hanged. 1785Cowper Let. to Lady Hesketh 15 Dec., He understands book⁓sellers' trap as well as any man. 1819Metropolis II. 107 A papa too much up to trap to allow his offspring thus to be had. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. i. 15 The beaver now being completely ‘up to trap’, approaches them cautiously. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy ii, A clever, ready-witted fellow, up to all sorts of trap. 1877J. Habberton Jericho Road xix. 170 You needn't come any of your..moral tricks on me. I'm up to trap. 1902Westm. Gaz. 14 Oct. 2/1 A ‘policy’ undistinguishable from trap in appearance.
6. One whose business is to ‘trap’ or catch offenders; a thief-taker; a detective or policeman; a sheriff's officer. Now only Austral. slang.
1705E. Ward Hud. Rediv. iv. v. 8 All girt with Chaps, Men, Boys, and Women, Traps Divers, Punks, and Serjeants Yeomen. 1800Sporting Mag. XVI. 26 Send the traps to pull up Bounce and Blunderbuss. 1812J. H. Vaux Vocab. Flash Lang. in Mem. (1964) 275 Traps, police officers, or runners, are properly so called; but it is common to include constables of any description under this title. 1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 232 While the culprit stood quaking in the dock, surrounded by the traps of office. 1838Dickens O. Twist xiii, ‘Why, the traps have got him, and that's all about it’, said the Dodger, sullenly. 1882T. Sheffield Story of Settlement 85 Amusing tales are told of how the excisemen or ‘traps’ sent to try to obtain evidence of illicit dealing were hoodwinked. 1898in M. Davitt Life & Progr. Australia xxxv. 192 A policeman is a ‘Johnny’, Or a ‘copman’ or a ‘trap’. 1902J. C. Snaith Wayfarers i, Expecting at every cast of the cards..to hear the boots of the ‘traps’ from Bow Street upon the stairs. 1905Daily News 2 Jan. 9 Prisoner..said he was convicted upon the false evidence of a ‘trap’—a Kaffir spy. 1935L. Mann Human Drift xxviii. 185 Suddenly there came a cry ‘The traps, look out, the ― traps. The Joes, Joes.’ He turned and saw a cordon of mounted and foot-police endeavouring to surround the crowd which scattered away from them. 1945[see demon2 1]. 1970Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 18 Jan. 14/6 After the arrests Derrincourt and Wilson were kept apart. Little did the former know that the latter was telling the traps how William Derrincourt had engineered the whole business.
7. colloq. A small carriage on springs; usually, a two-wheeled spring carriage, a gig, a spring-cart. Cf. rattletrap 2.
1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life. vi. Introd., Bidding a long adieu to Bedlam in the shape of an inn..and a travelling trap for a sitting room. 1818in Illustr. Lond. News (1884) 4 Oct. 315/3 His ‘trap’ was at the lodge, and..he must be off. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxvi, ‘Hullo!’ said he, ‘there's Dob's trap’... The ‘trap’ in question was a carriage which the Major had bought for six pounds sterling. 1873M. Collins Squire Silchester III. xiv. 143 Come with me to the stables. I'll have a trap out and drive to the Rectory. 1902Buchan Watcher by Threshold 194 A trap shall be sent for you after dinner.
8. a. A device for preventing the upward escape of noxious gases from a pipe, as a double curve in or U-shaped section of the pipe, in which water stands.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §464 No smell can penetrate upwards, it being intercepted by the trap and the water into which it dips. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. x. 46 Traps to prevent effluvia from drains and gulleys. Ibid. xxxi. 24 Surface gutter with movable safety covers, sanitary traps. 1884Health Exhib. Catal. 49/2 Water Closet of improved manufacture, ornamental bason and trap. 1892D trap [see D I. 2].
b. Applied to various contrivances for preventing the passage of steam, water, silt, etc. Also, a ventilation door in a mine.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., Steam-trap, a self-acting device for the discharge of condensed water from steam-engines or steam-pipes. 1900Dundee Advertiser 9 June 8 On the dead levels by the river the drainage water is run through tunnels piercing the embankments, each outlet having a trap or lock to prevent the tide from rushing up to drown the fields. 1900Daily News 14 Feb. 3/2 Here and there [in a coal-mine]..are placed the ventilating doorways, or traps. At each of these sits the little trapper lad alone in the silent gloom. 1911Webster, Trap,..a device to separate sand and silt from flowing water.
c. Geol. An underground rock formation in which an accumulation of oil or gas is trapped; so oil trap.
1920Econ. Geol. XV. 249 Trap structures contain the majority of the important accumulations of oil. 1938D. Hager Pract. Oil Geol. (ed. 5) iii. 56 Areas of heavily metamorphosed rocks the unfavorable for gas and oil accumulations, unless the oil has migrated to traps in such rocks. 1946Nature 28 Dec. 931/2 In considering the distribution of structures which might act as oil-traps, the field of inquiry may be limited to those geological formations which provide some indication of the presence of oil. 1969Bennison & Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles xii. 282 Salt-dome structures..commonly give rise to oil traps, salt being capped by gypsum. 1977Offshore Engineer May 38/1 Seismic evidence suggests thick deeply buried deposits onlapping old ridges which may form hydrocarbon traps.
d. Radio. A resonant circuit used as a rejector or acceptor circuit to block or divert signals of a specific frequency, esp. to reduce interference in a receiver tuned to a nearby frequency; = wave trap s.v. wave n. 10.
1927B. F. Dashiell Pop. Guide to Radio xii. 236 A properly designed trap should not affect the tuning of the set to any great degree. 1957Practical Wireless XXXIII. 570/1 Should there be any I.F. break-through traps, they should be done [sc. aligned] next. 1974Harvey & Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. v. 113 The low-pass filter is followed by a 38 kHz trap..to remove any residual 38 kHz component.
9. a. A recess in the butt of a musket or rifle, in which accessories are carried.
1844[implied in trap-plate: see 12]. 1891Magazine Rifle Firing Exerc., Aiming Drill, The oil bottle is to be carried in the trap in the butt... Push the thong into the trap,..press down the end of the thong and close the trap. 1909Text-bk. Small Arms 119 The short Springfield rifle is provided with a butt trap, containing a metal oil-bottle, holding oil at one end and a pull-through at the other.
b. The part of a stake- or trap-net in which the fish are confined.
1859Act 22 & 23 Vict. c. 70 §12 A clear Opening of at least Three Feet in Width in the Traps or Chambers of such Stake Net from the Bottom to the Top thereof.
c. U.S. = trap-net (see 12).
1888Goode Amer. Fishes 216 Nets..similar in many respects to the so-called ‘traps’ of Seconnet River in Rhode Island. 1891in Cent. Dict.
d. Golf. = sand-trap 2. Cf. bunker 4 a. Chiefly U.S.
1890H. G. Hutchinson Golf xiii. 313 That little round trap of a Strath's bunker not three yards nearer you. 1903J. L. Low Concerning Golf ix. 173 Bunkers..refuse to be disregarded, and insist on asserting themselves... That little bunker on the seventeenth green at St. Andrews..that ‘trap’ bunker at the third green at North Berwick. 1933F. Ouimet Game of Golf xvi. 236 Billy waded into the sand and blasted his ball out of the trap. 1952B. Cerf Good for Laugh 173 How many shots did you have in that trap? 1971‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird xv. 215 Wallace Brady..landed in the long, pale trap in front of the green and stayed there doing explosive shots with a sand-wedge.
10. Weaving. A break in the threads of a warp; a faulty place resulting from this in woven cloth.
1871Burnley Phases Bradford Life (1872) 197 Ere the loom ceases its motion, what is technically termed ‘a trap’ has occurred... A large number of ‘ends’ are broken, and must be tied neatly together again one by one before the work can proceed. 1883Gloss. Almondbury & Huddersfield s.v., A bad place in the cloth is the consequence, and that is also called a trap. 1891Labour Commission Gloss., Traps, also called ‘smashes’ or ‘mashes’, are faults in weaving caused by the shuttle becoming trapped, which will break out the twist or warp threads for several inches in the width.
11. Physics. A site in a crystal lattice which is capable of temporarily immobilizing a moving electron or hole.
1945Proc. R. Soc. A. CLXXXIV. 366 Thermoluminescence and long-period phosphorescence arise from the release of electrons from metastable levels or traps. 1971Physics Bull. Oct. 579/1 Laboratory studies use uv, x ray or corpuscular..excitation to fill the traps, which are then emptied on heating. 1980Cambr. Encycl. Archaeol. 426/2 In the structure of the crystal lattice of most minerals there are defects or imperfections known as traps.
12. attrib. and Comb., as trap-bait, trap-cage, trap-catch, trap-chair, trap-lid, trap-load, trap-maker, trap-mouth, trap-setter, trap-setting, trap-tooth, trap-way, trap-window; trap-like adj.; trap-bat, a bat used in playing trap or trap-ball; also, the game itself; trap-board, a perforated board in a Jacquard loom: see quot.; trap boat N. Amer., a boat used for fishing with trap-nets; † trap-bridge, a drawbridge; trap-cellar, the space beneath the trap-doors in the stage of a theatre; trap-creel, a basket used for catching lobsters, etc.; trap-crop, a crop planted for the purpose of attracting insects or fungus from another crop; † trap-ditch, a ditch dug as a pitfall; trap-fisher, one who fishes with a trap-net; trap-gun, (a) (see quot. 1964); (b) a shotgun used in trap-shooting; trap-hatch, a hatch covered with a trap or trap-door; so trap-hatchway; trap-hole, a hole closed by a trap-door; also (pl.) pits dug in the ground to serve as obstacles to an enemy, trous-de-loup; trap-hook, a fish-hook fitted with a spring snap, a snap-hook; trap-house, a shelter from which clay pigeons are released for trap-shooting; trap-light, a light having a device for trapping moths attracted by it; trap-line, (a) the ensnaring filament in a spider's web; (b) N. Amer., a series of hunter's traps; trap-match, a trap-shooting match; trap-nest orig. U.S., a nesting-box which a hen can enter but cannot leave until released; also as v. trans.; hence trap-nesting vbl. n.; trap-net, a large net for catching fish: see quot. 1877; trap-pit, a deep pit in which beasts are trapped; also fig.; trap-plate, the hinged lid of the trap in a musket or rifle stock (see 9 a); trap-poacher, a poacher who traps game; trap-point, on railways, a safety-point (point n. B. 3 f) which prevents an unauthorized movement of a train or vehicle from a siding on to the main line by derailing it; trap-seine (U.S.), a kind of trap-net; trapshoot N. Amer., a trap-shooting contest or event; trap-shooter, -shot, one who practises trap-shooting; trap-shooting, the sport of shooting pigeons, glass balls, etc., released from a spring trap; trap-shy a., of an animal: reluctant to approach a trap; hence trap-shyness; trap-siding, a siding on a gradient intended to intercept vehicles which break away from an ascending train and to derail them; trap skiff N. Amer. = trap boat above; trap-tree, the jack-tree, Artocarpus integrifolia, which provides gum for bird-lime; also (U.S.) a tree deadened or felled at a time when destructive beetles have entered the bark; trap-twister, -winder, in Spinning, a twisting or winding machine in which the roller or bobbin is stopped by a spring arrangement as soon as the yarn breaks (cf. 10); trap-valve: see quot.; trap-weir (U.S.), a trap-net (Cent. Dict. 1891); trap-yard, an enclosure into which animals such as horses, sheep, etc. are driven and confined.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxvii. 356 The foxes seem tired of touching our *trap-baits.
1842Dickens Let. 15 July (1974) III. 271 [I play] some most riotous game at *trap-bat and ball in the Garden with the children. 1849Lytton Caxtons ii. i, I wrote home to my father, modestly implying that I was short of cash, that a trap-bat would be acceptable. 1865Athenæum 11 Mar. 351/1 Kites could be flown, trap-bat indulged in.
1900T. W. Fox Mech. Weaving vi. (ed. 2) 143 In or about..1830 William Jennings claimed the invention of a machine to work without hooks... In it a neck cord..passes through a needle eye, through a perforated *trap board, that takes the place of a griffe, and is also threaded through a cross piece at the machine head where a loop is formed upon it, and a piece of twine passed through all the loops in one line, in order to prevent the cords from lifting.
1894Rudder Aug.–Sept. 201/1 She was invited to sail over a course with a fleet of Richibucto's famous *trap boats. 1974F. Mowat Boat who wouldn't Float iv. 38, I was to join the four-man crew of a trap boat. She was a big, broad-beamed skiff powered by a five-horsepower, ‘jump-spark’ single-cylinder engine.
1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 390/2 Pons versatilis, a draw⁓bridge: a falling bridg, or a *trap bridge.
1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 26 A cage made upon the plan of the gold⁓finch *trap-cage.
1894Youth's Companion 22 Nov. 562/4 For some weeks past our *trap-catch, both of eels and lobsters, had greatly diminished.
a1668R. Lassels Voy. Italy (1698) II. 106 A chair of revenge, or a *trap-chair for an enemy.
1795Statist. Acc. Scot. XVI. 516 A considerable quantity of lobsters and crabs..are taken, with *trap-creels.
1899G. Massee Plant Diseases 26 The *trap-crop should consist of some plant readily susceptible to the disease it is intended to catch.
1657Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 16 Many such *Trap-ditches were digg'd in the fields.
1801J. Barrow Travels Interior S. Afr. I. vi. 360 A stell-roar or *trap-gun, set by a Hottentot. 1947J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xxxv. 307 Crocodiles are sometimes shot by trap guns. 1964H. L. Peterson Encycl. Firearms 323/1 Trap gun, trip gun. ‘Trap’ as here used, has nothing to do with the sport of trapshooting; it refers to devices designed to shoot automatically at men or animals that come into the line of fire. Many of these trap guns are set off by the tripping of a wire or cord. 1976Shooting Times & Country Mag. 16–22 Dec. 47/2 (Advt.), Nikko 5,000-II o/u trapgun. 1980Outdoor Life (U.S.) (Northeast ed.) Oct. 90/2 None of the major arms makers offered specialized trap guns in 16-gauge, but ammo makers did make a special 23/4-dram-equivalent 11/8oz. 16-gauge load for trap shooting.
1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 204 The entrance is by a *trap-hatch at the bottom. 1903J. Conrad & Hueffer Romance ii. iv, He slipped down the open trap-hatch near the window.
1799Hull Advertiser 28 Dec. 3/2 A labouring man fell through a *trap hatchway at the house of..a baker.
1864Webster, *Trap-hole.
1883B. Phillips in Century Mag. Apr. 899/1, I discard all *trap-hooks, infernal machines working with springs, as only adapted for the capture of land animals.
1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 75 We hear that 50 yards is not the best distance between the two *traphouses, if the ‘Plus’ trap is being used. 1979G. Hammond Dead Game xvi. 206 The local club have put up a tower for high birds [sc. clay pigeons]..and built some trap-houses.
1904Electr. World 1 Oct. 563 Instruments..enclosed in a walnut casing with a *trap-lid.
1896U.S. Dept. Agric., Cotton Plant, Bulletin 331 Mally..made extensive experiments with *trap lights for the moths.
1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile xii. 332 Communicate by means of *trap-like openings with vaults below. 1895Westm. Gaz. 29 Nov. 5/1 Pointing to the small trap-like exit under the judge's bench.
1889H. C. McCook Amer. Spiders I. viii. 134 The *trapline of the Labyrinth spider differs..in being composed of several threads instead of a single line. 1926Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 July 3/5 The disappearance of Charles Olson from his trap line on the headwaters of the Parsnip River in Northern British Columbia remains as much a mystery as when it was first reported. 1954W. Faulkner Fable 82 He had no more doubt of where he was than would the old wolf or lynx when he was near a trap-line. 1970Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 10 May 6/1 The men were absent on the trapline and only the women and children were home.
1894A. Morrison Mean Streets 72 Helping with a heavy *trapload of luggage.
1907Daily News 19 Feb. 6 If there were no rats, the *trap-makers of Birmingham would be out of work.
1895Outing (U.S.) XXVII. 67/1 Expert shots assume many attitudes, as may be seen at any important *trap-match.
1894G. Meredith Ld. Ormont & Aminta iv, Eyes bluish-grey..lively to shoot their meaning when the *trap-mouth was active.
1901G. M. Cowell in Rep. Marine Agric. Exper. Station 1900 XVI. 97 It was a prime necessity to ascertain the exact record of the eggs produced by each individual. This led to devising the *trap nest. 1908Ann. Rep. N.Y. Agric. Exper. Station, Ithaca, 1907 261 For the poultry-man..who..will trap-nest conscientiously..we think there is a large reward. 1910W. W. Broomhead Poultry & Profit iii. 33, I asked Mr. Tapley if he had his fowls trap-nested. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 29 Mar. (Suppl.) 3/1 Three hundred pullets are trapnested..each year. 1973Animal Behaviour XXI. 98/1 When given access to trapnests the domestic hen has a characteristic behaviour associated with oviposition.
1906Reliable Poultry Jrnl. XIII. 353/1, I read an editorial dealing with this problem of *trap-nesting. 1956Wilson & Card Farm Poultry Production iii. 60 The best way to get complete records is by trap nesting.
1865*Trap net [see pound net s.v. pound n.2 6]. 1877Knight Dict. Mech., Trap-net, a fishing-net in which a funnel-shaped piece leads the fish into a pound from which extrication is not easy. 1904W. M. Gallichan Fishing Spain 167 Lowering and raising the trap-nets are operations attended with peril.
1652Benlowes Theoph. x. xiii, With dimpled chins, The *trap-pits where a fondling lies. 1849A. Blackhall Lays of North 84 (E.D.D.) Reckless man, who..Revell'd in hell's trap-pit—drinking.
1844Regul. & Ord. Army 106 New brass *trap plate and joint fitted to rifle.
1893J. Watson Conf. Poacher 129 The *trap-poacher is only a casual.
1885E. B. Ivatts Railway Managem. at Stations 555 It is common to speak of a catch siding and catch points, of a trap siding and *trap points. 1899Daily News 5 July 3/5 A train, travelling from Blackpool to Birmingham, ran into the trap points. Nine coaches were thrown on to an embankment.
1891Cent. Dict., *Trap-seine, a trap-net specially adapted to take fish working down an eddy (Rhode Island).
1903W. Blackwood Local Veto & Bk. xvi. 40 The *trap-setters and men-catchers were rapidly hastening the dynasty of Judah to its dissolution.
Ibid., What is our licensing system but a process of *trap-setting?
1926Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 17 July 12/2 Big *Trapshoot at Colwood on Sunday. One of the biggest shoots of years is to be held tomorrow. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 18 June 4-d/1 (heading) Trapshoot set at Huntley.
1899Rider Haggard in Longm. Mag. July 247 The bruiser, the racing tout, the *trap-shooter and others equally ignoble are all ‘sportsmen’.
1892Greener Breech Loader 130 For ordinary *trap shooting a gun is required to shoot as closely as possible at the trap.
Ibid. 94 Some *trap shots require their guns to carry as many as 6 in. high at forty yards. 1901Daily Chron. 30 Sept. 5/1 He is reputed to be an excellent trap-shot.
1922Contemp. Rev. July 90 After a time the rat grows poison-shy and *trap-shy. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 39 The rabbits had become trap-shy.
1947New Biol. II. 19 A population which is thus immune to trapping is sometimes called ‘trap-shy’. We do not know what *trap-shyness is in terms of rat behaviour, but it is a very real phenomenon.
1885Manch. Exam. 19 Feb. 4/7 The engine left the line at a *trap siding and rolled down an embankment.
1934Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXIV. 44 There were some *trap-skiffs jigging for cod on the shoal. 1969Trap skiff [see Jack n.1 25].
1868Browning Ring & Bk. i. 1298 In its [the tiger-cat's] silkiness the *trap-teeth joined.
1884W. S. B. McLaren Spinning (ed. 2) 237 Better than any winders for saving waste are *trap twisters where the yarn is not very soft.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Trap-valve, a valve hinged on one side of its seat, and opening and closing like a shutter or trap-door, a clack-valve.
1904Quiller Couch Fort Amity xxiii, Open the *trap-way and show us some light.
1884W. S. B. McLaren Spinning (ed. 2) 237 There are many *trap winders for winding either single threads or two or more together.
1620Middleton & Rowley World Tost at Tennis 456 His eyes look like false lights, cozening *trap-windows. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxxi, A small trap window in the roof.
1906Chambers's Jrnl. 12 May 380/1 There are..two means of capturing these horses... The first is to build a strong *trapyard on their line of retreat, and endeavour to run them into it. 1936Trap yard [see crush n. 4 c]. [Note. The OE. treppe, træppe, and MFlem. trappe, WFlem. traap, trape, are generally held to be orig. either the same word as MDu. and MLG. trappe, ‘stair, flight of steps, step’, or a derivative of the same verbal stem *trapp- (the non-nasalized original of *trampan to tread, LG. trappen), for the supposed reason that a ‘trap’ was originally something laid for a beast to tread or step upon, and thus to be either caught by a gin or snare, or precipitated into a deep pit (cf. pitfall). But it is difficult to conceive trappe, treppe used at once in the general sense ‘stair or step’, and in the very specific one of ‘trap, snare, gin’. It has also to be noticed that it is only in MDu. or rather MFlem. that the word is known in both senses; for in OE. (and Eng. generally, down to 18th c.) træppe, trap had (like the Romanic trappa) only the sense of ‘device for catching, gin, snare’, while MLG. trappe, treppe, and thence mod.Ger., and the Scandinavian languages, have only the sense ‘stair’ or ‘step of a stair’. (OHG. has a single instance of trapa wk. fem. as a gloss to L. tenda, but this rather looks like an adoption or re-adoption from med.L.) The actual relation of these words or senses is thus very obscure.]
Add:[2.] c. A concealed compartment; spec. (Criminals'), any hiding-place for stolen or illegal goods, etc.; a ‘stash’. U.S. slang.
1930Amer. Mercury Dec. 458/2 Trap,..a place of concealment for liquor in the body of an automobile or truck. ‘Pipe this. Ain't it a honey of a trap job?’ 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §498/2 Hiding place,..hole, hole-up, plant, stach, stash, trap. 1977Time 16 May 35/3 Other mobsters keep their escape money in bank safe-deposit boxes or hiding places called ‘traps’. 1987C. Sifakis Mafia Encycl. 327/1 Mobsters demand very sophisticated traps, such as a trap built behind a trap, a fireproof trap inside a stove.., or one with an opening mechanism that can only be triggered in another room.
▸ Amer. Football. = trap play n. at Additions.
1935J. DaGrosa Man. for Functional Football i. 95 This is the beginning of the trap. 1954G. H. Allen Encycl. Football Drills 93 The purpose of this drill is to develop speed and skill for the offensive linemen in pulling and executing a trap block. 1984J. Lawton All Amer. War Game x. 126 There are more subtle linemen, men more alert to the ‘draw’ or the ‘trap’ of an offensive line. 1996Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pa.) 7 Oct. b2/2 The trap is the cornerstone of Cheltenham's offense this season.
▸ trap play n. Amer. Football a tactical manoeuvre in which a defensive player is allowed by the attacking team to cross the line of scrimmage and then blocked, thus creating a gap through which the ball-carrier may advance; = mousetrap n. 2f.
1933Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 12 Feb. (Automotive section) 1/2, I expect to see *trap plays brought to a new high in development. 1977Washington Post 15 Sept. f3/3 Last week the Citadel had a sophomore tackle and I came out of nowhere and wiped him out on a trap play. 2005Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 25 Mar. iv. 7/1 The Steelers were known for smaller, quicker linemen who ran trap plays that required they be agile, not bulky.
▪ II. † trap, n.2 Obs.
[Altered form of F. drap cloth, covering = Pr. drap, Sp. and Pg. trapo, It. drappo:—med.L. drappus cloth (Capit. Charles the Bald a 850), of uncertain origin: see Diez, and Note below.]
A cloth or covering spread over the saddle or harness of a horse (cf. trapper n.1); a caparison; a trapping; transf. the hangings of a litter. (Usually in pl.)
13..K. Alis. 1606 (Bodl. MS.) Þere men miȝ tten quyk yseon Many hors wiþ trappe wryen. Ibid. 3416 Many trappe many croupere. 13..Coer de L. 1515 A messanger ther com rydand, Upon a stede whyt so mylke, His trappys wer of tuely sylke. a1400Octouian 954 He bar thre rochys of seluer clere In scheld and trappys. 1513Douglas æneis xi. xv. 20 Hys rych mantill, of quham the forbreist lappis, Ratling of brycht gold wire, wyth gyltin trappys. 1721Strype Eccl. Mem. III. iv. 36 The Queen [Mary, 1553] in her litter, richly garnished with cloth of gold, with two traps of white damask and cushions. [Note. It is clear that 14th c. trap and trappure (later trapper n.1) correspond to OF. drap and drapure. The question is how these F. words in dr- have tr- in Eng. This may have been an Eng. change, due to influence of trap in other senses. But the trap form may have existed in Anglo-Fr. or even in Fr. dialects. Du Cange has trapus (one example) for med.L. drappus; Pg. and Sp. have trapo ‘clout, rag’, formerly ‘cloth’, also trapero (draper), trapería, trapajo; med.(Anglo-)L. had trappatura, the ordinary equivalent of trappure, OF. trappeüre: see trapper n.1] ▪ III. trap, n.3 Sc.
[app. = Du., MFlem. trap flight of steps, stair; MDu., early mod.Du. (Kilian) trappe step; OFris. treppe step of a ladder, etc., EFris. trappe, trap step (of a stair), also (= trap-ledder) ladder with broad flat steps instead of rungs, flight of steps; MLG. trappe, treppe, troppe flight of steps, stair, whence MG. trappe, treppe, Ger., LG. treppe stair; also (from MLG.), Da. trappe, Sw. trappa, Norw. dial. trapp, tropp flight of steps, stair. But the Sc. trap is by some referred directly to trap n.1, as if short for trap-ladder or trap-stair, in sense of a ladder or stair leading up to a trap-door or trap-hole.]
A ladder or movable flight of steps leading to a loft or the like.
[1756M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitl. Cl.) 131 When we came to go up stairs to bed, there was a trap, which is the Dutch name for a stair.] 1808Jamieson, Trap, a sort of ladder, a moveable flight of wooden steps. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Trap,..a sort of moveable ladder or steps. 1885A. Munro Siren Casket (1889) 136 As you enter'd the door of the house from the street You confronted a trap or a ladder. 1899J. Colville Scott. Vernacular 17 Against its wall stood the trap or ladder leading to the garret.
b. attrib. and Comb., as trap-like adj.; trap-ladder [= WFlem. trap-ladder, -leere, EFlem. (Antwerp) trapleer, EFris. trap-ledder a ladder with flat steps, a ‘pair of steps’]; trap-stair = trap.
1855Carlyle Misc., Prinzenraub (1899) IV. 442 That other little Duke..who had built the biggest bassoon ever heard of; thirty feet high, or so; and was seen playing on it from a *trap-ladder. 1896J. Lamb Ann. W. Kilbride ix. 244 A trap-ladder cost 2s. 6d. 1897tr. Balzac's Cousin Pons 327 Reached by a short ladder, known among builders as a trap-ladder, there was a kind of garret.
1906Duke of Argyll Autobiog. & Mem. I. ii. 18 Steep, *traplike wooden stairs.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §164 The bottom [of the stair] might either project two double steps..; or a *trap stair, composed of the two lower steps, and made to fold up, might be resorted to. 1837J. E. Murray Summer in Pyrenees II. 245 A little urchin came down a trap-stair at the further end. 1844Stephens Bk. Farm I. 143 It enters from the straw⁓barn..by means of the stone or wooden trap-stair. 1847H. Miller First Impr. xix. 368 Their terrace-like precipices, that rise over each other step by step—their trap-stairs of trappean rock,—for to this scenic peculiarity the volcanic rocks owe their generic name. 1850R. Chambers Burns' Life & Wks. (1856) I. 145 Almost the only other apartment in the house is a kind of garret-closet, accessible by a narrow trap-stair ascending from the lobby.
▪ IV. † trap, n.4 Coal Mining, etc. Obs.
[History obscure; app. connected with the continental words trap, trappe step: see prec. (Perh. introduced by foreign miners in 16th c.)]
A ‘fault’ in a seam of coal, also in a mineral vein or in any stratum; an up-throw or down-throw of the stratum (usually trap-up or trap-down). (Cf. step-faults applied to a series of faults in the same direction.)
1719Strachey in Phil. Trans. XXX. 971 As..they are dug near the same Depth, it follows there must be a Trap, or several Traps down, which in all must amount to that Depth between the said Works. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-Mining, Trap-down [in Bristol Coal-field], a fault which is a down-throw one... Trap-up, a fault which is an up-throw one.
Hence trap v.3 in to trap up or trap down, to be found at a higher or lower level after dislocation by a dike or fault: see quots.; whence ˈtrapping vbl. n.
1719Strachey in Phil. Trans. XXX. 969 They observe, as they work to the South West, when they meet with a Ridg it Causeth the Coal to trap up, that is..they find it over their heads, when they are thro' the Ridg: but..when they work thro' a ridg to the North East, they say it traps down, that is, they find it under their feet. 1757Da Costa in Phil. Trans. L. 233 The heavings, displacings, trappings, and breaks of the metallic veins. 1811W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XXXI. 448 Where there is a trapping down of the strata.
▪ V. trap, n.5 Min.
Also 8 trapp.
[a. Swed. trapp (Bergman 1766), so named from the stairlike appearance often presented by the rock, f. trappa stair: see trap n.3]
a. A dark-coloured igneous rock more or less columnar in structure: now extended to include all igneous rocks which are neither granitic nor of recent volcanic formation.
[1794Sullivan View Nat. II. 165 This is what the Swedes call trapp, or trapas, from stairs.] 1794Schmeisser Syst. Mineral. I. 184 Trapp... Its name originates from the Swedish language. The term trapp describes a stone, which breaks in pieces of a rhomboidal figure, and consequently exhibits..steps like a stair case. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 227 Common Trap. Basalt of Werner. 1811Pinkerton Petralogy I. 62 The volcanic eruptions, which are supposed to have produced the mountains of trap. 1863A. C. Ramsay Phys. Geog. ix. (1878) 124 The rocks are pierced by..a white felspathic-looking trap, which has charred the coals at the points of junction. 1872W. S. Symonds Rec. Rocks v. 146 A dyke of trap penetrates the rocks by means of a fissure.
b. attrib. and Comb., as trap-dike (dike n.1 9 b), trap-granulite, trap-porphyry, trap-rock, trap-shale, trap-stone, trap-tuff.
1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 355 Trap Porphyry..sometimes..abounds..in quartz and felspar. 1811Sir A. Boswell Poet. Wks. (1872) 102 Beneath his feet the trap⁓stone rung. 1813Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 118 Rocks in which hornblende forms a predominating ingredient, have been denominated trap rocks. 1821R. Jameson Man. Mineral. 401 Secondary Trap... The following are the different kinds of these rocks,..Greenstone;..Syenite;..Amygdaloid;..Wacke;..Basalt; and..Trap tuff. 1839[see intrusion 1 b]. 1842Sedgwick in Hudson's Guide Lakes (1843) 241 Plumbago..has..been found among coal strata near the sides of ‘trap dykes’. 1853in J. Phillips Man. Geol. (1855) 102 Roofing-slate,..alternating..with porphyry, trappean conglomerate, trap-shale. 1855J. Phillips Man. Geol. 187 There are no trap dikes in this coal field. 1867Burton Hist. Scot. (1873) I. ii. 57 It is a small bar of trapstone. 1881Prevost in Knowledge No. 5. 85 The trap rocks, divisible into two great classes, called diorite and dolerite, contain soda, lime, magnesia, and potash.
▪ VI. † trap, n.6 Obs.
[a. OF. trappe a baking-tin for tarts (1395 in Godef.).]
A kind of dish or pan, app. for baking.
c1390Forme of Cury in Warner Antiq. Culin. 27 Make a crust in a trape. c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 40 Fyrst make a fole trap.., Pynche hym, cowche hym þy flesshe þerby. c1430Two Cookery-bks. (E.E.T.S.) 54 Sew Trappe.
▪ VII. trap, n.7
see traps, belongings, etc.
▪ VIII. trap, n.8 colloq. (orig. U.S.).|træp|
[Origin unclear. Prob. some slang application of trap n.1 The explanation in quot. 1938 is unsupported.]
Usu. pl. In a jazz or dance band, percussion instruments or devices (e.g. wood-blocks, whistles) used to produce a variety of special effects; these together with the standard jazz or dance band drum-kit.
1903[see trap-drummer, sense b below]. 1925F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby iii. 56 A great number of single girls dancing individualistically or relieving the orchestra for a moment of the burden of the banjo or the traps. 1938Oxf. Compan. Music 948/2 Traps,..The origin of the word may be from the nineteenth-century colloquial ‘traps’ meaning baggage of which the individual in question [sc. the trap-drummer] has necessarily a good deal. 1947J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus xvii. 278 It's a rubber drum that you beat with a sponge. It's for the drunks that want to play traps in the orchestra. 1967Crescendo May 26/2 When one packed up after a gig, one simply stuffed the snare drum, stand, pedal and traps—all the bits and pieces were known as ‘traps’ in those days—inside the open side of the B.D. [sc. bass drum]. 1982B. Fantoni Stickman ii. 19 Dance-band drummers, beats me why dames go goofy on them. I played the traps a little myself once.
b. Comb. trap-drum, (a) a drum forming part of a set of traps as opposed to a drum used in an orchestra or military band; (b) pl. = sense a above; hence trap-drummer, a musician who plays the trap-drums; a street musician who plays a drum and other instruments at once.
1924*Trap-drum [see plastered ppl. a. 2]. 1929T. Wolfe Look Homeward, Angel xiv. 180 Mr. Buckner..officiating at the trap drum and tambourine. 1959W. F. Nolan Dark Encounter in H. Q. Masur Murder Most Foul (1973) 125 The sharp, sweet cry of horns could be heard above the rolling trap drums. 1978West Africa 16 Oct. 2042/2 Trap-drums, double-bass, guitar.
1903Med. Rec. (N.Y.) 14 Feb. 268/1 *Trap-drummer's neurosis: a hitherto undescribed occupation-disease... The man's occupation was to beat a drum by the operation of a pedal which is manipulated with the right foot, while with his hands he plays the other drums, triangle, and the various traps. 1926H. V. Morton Nights of London 168 We entered [the night club]. A trap drummer crouched over his instruments. 1977New Yorker 20 June 93/1 When its complete personnel finally arrived onstage, the Ensemble consisted of two trap drummers.., a reedman who doubled on percussion.., a conga drummer.., a bassist.., and a singing pianist.
▪ IX. trap, n.9 Body-building slang.|træp|
[Shortened form.]
pl. The trapezius muscles.
1956Muscle Power III. v. 12/1 (caption) For building powerful, sloping traps you can't beat Upright Rowing Motions. 1966Ibid. (New Ser.) ii. 27/3 In order for one to build bulk and strength into the traps, I suggest you do a lot of heavy cleans. 1985Bodypower Oct. 26/3 Power cleans are the basis of this routine because they affect traps, upper back, shoulders and arms. 1988Musclemag Nov. 85/2 Though he wore a loose-fitting shirt, his traps stood out like mountains and his arms filled up the blousy sleeves.
▪ X. trap, v.1
[ME. trappen:—OE. *træppan in betræppan, (be)treppan (betrap), f. træp, trap n.1 Cf. also attrap, entrap (from F.), which may have contributed to the Eng. vb.]
I. Transitive senses.
1. a. To catch in or as in a trap, entrap, ensnare.
[a900Kentish Gloss. 211 (Bosw.-T.) Hio [tr]e[p]te, inretivit. ]c1460Towneley Myst. xiii. 371 Me thoght with a gyn A fatt shepe he trapt, bot he mayde no dyn. 1530Palsgr. 761/1, I trappe, I take one by sleyght, or take any beest in a trappe or snare, je attrappe and je trappe. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies xxiii. 211 Three persons are safer than a large number for trapping beaver. 1860J. W. Warter Sea-board II. 39 Wheat-ears, which all shepherds..trap on the Downs.
b. fig.
1390Gower Conf. II. 218 Thus he, whom gold hath overset, Was trapped in his oghne net. c1425Cast. Persev. 2099 in Macro Plays 140, & þou, deuyl, with wyckyd wyl, In paradys trappyd us with tresun. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxix. (Percy Soc.) 143 Howe that my hart by Venus was trapt, With a snare of love. 1670Cotton Espernon iii. xi. 556 The Duke knowing, that..this was only a device to make him run into some error,..was not easie to be trap'd that way. a1700Dryden tr. Ovid's Met. xiii. Sp. Ajax & Ulysses 340 With ambush'd arms I trapp'd the foe, or tired with false alarms. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche July v, They alert with joy to see her trapt, Launch'd forth amain. 1936Discovery Nov. 349/1 Its dust-particle content is..trapped in the volume of liquid. 1952E. R. Janes Flower Garden 49 Cloches were used in conjunction with hotbeds, but their efficacy for forwarding purposes depended chiefly upon their ability to trap solar heat. 1970L. Deighton Bomber xxiii. 342 This cold still air trapped smoke from the furnaces and factories and held it like a grey woollen blanket.
c. fig. with ref. to speech: To catch, pull up, or detect in a mis-statement. Also Sc. To detect and correct a classmate in an erroneous answer, or to answer a question which he cannot and ‘take him down’ (take v. 80 b (d)).
1630Prynne Anti-Armin. 136 That contradicts their Doctrine, and traps them in a lye. 1681–6J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 601 The Jews having every Day Opportunity of conversing with them, they might have easily trapp'd them in their Relations. 1825Jamieson, To trap, to correct in saying a lesson at school, so as to have a right to take the place of him who is thus corrected. 1895Crockett Bog-Myrtle & Peat 185 He had promptly ‘trapped’ his way to the head of the class... The operation of ‘trapping’ was simply performed. When a mistake was made in pronunciation, repetition, or spelling, any pupil further down the class held out his hand,..the ‘trapper’, providing always that his emendation was accepted, was instantly promoted to the place of the ‘trapped’.
2. To furnish with traps; to set (a place) with a trap or traps (in quot. 1908 with arrangements for detecting law-breaking motorists, trap n.1 1 c).
1831J. O. Pattie Personal Narr. 142 We set 40 traps, and..caught 36 beavers... We concluded..to travel slowly, and in hunters phrase, trap the river clear; that is, take all that could be allured to come to the bait. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. II. lviii. 251 They assume the right of hunting and trapping the streams and lakes. 1908Westm. Gaz. 8 Dec. 1/1 The owners of motors are not content to take them week by week down the same road, especially when that road is so well ‘trapped’ as is the highway to the London-by-the-sea. 1940Sun (Baltimore) 2 Feb. 14/7 We plan to trap only a small part of our marshes. 1969I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam v. 105, I would usually go flat on the ground in case the door was trapped with a grenade or claymore mine.
3. To furnish (a drain, etc.) with a trap or traps, to prevent the ascent of foul air or gas.
1862Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. x. 46 The drains to be trapped and ventilated. 1881B. W. Richardson in Gd. Words XXII. 55 The chief drain has to be trapped outside the dwelling, a little way before it reaches the common sewer.
4. Chiefly Mech. To stop and hold or retain by a trap or contrivance for the purpose; to separate or remove by a trap:
e.g. to stop the shuttle of a loom in the warp; water, air, gas, heat in its passage; esp. anything suspended in water, or condensed from steam or gas, in a pipe.
5. a. Baseball. (a) To catch (the ball) just after it has hit the ground; (b) to hem (a runner) between two fielders.
1892Chicago Herald 16 May 2 Meehan trapped grounders by wholesale. 1912C. Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch viii. 181 A Boston batter tapped one to Merkle which I thought he trapped, but Johnstone, the umpire, said he caught it on a fly. 1939D. E. Jessee Baseball iv. 41 The second baseman will have many opportunities to participate in ‘run-down’ plays in which a base runner has been ‘trapped’ between first and second or second and third. 1959E. Allen Baseball Play & Strategy v. 105 As a general rule all fly balls are caught... When a runner retreats toward a base with less than two outs, some fly balls may be purposely trapped and two players retired. 1967R. Merkle Concentrated Baseball 105 On a rundown play between second and third, the trapped runner should be allowed to advance about half the distance toward third base.
b. Cricket. To cause (a batsman) to be dismissed leg before wicket.
1919Times 4 July 8/6 The wicket..was nothing like so difficult as made out when once..you had gauged the bowler's spin without being trapped by Trumble's straight one. 1969Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack 679 The use of pads instead of the bat was prevalent with six batsmen trapped leg before in the first innings. 1977Sunday Times 27 Feb. 28/6 Lever broke through in his third over when Sri Lanka batted, trapping Fernando lbw at 16.
c. Assoc. Football. To receive and control (the ball), esp. between the foot and the ground.
1950N. Cardus Second Innings 146 When it [sc. the football] was passed to him and it fell at his feet he would ‘trap’ it and lever it to an inch of where he wanted it. 1976Times 2 Dec. 12/1 The ball was cleared from the United penalty area, Dobson trapped it with his left thigh, and hit it with his right foot, and the ball bounced just in front of Stepney and into the net.
II. Intransitive senses.
6. To practise catching wild animals in traps for their furs; also gen. to set traps for game.
a1807P. Gass Jrnl. 78 Some Frenchmen who were out trapping caught 7 of them [beavers]. 1817J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 18 note, Soon after he..trapped in company with a hunter named Potts. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies xxiii. 210, I should like to come and trap on these waters all winter. 1894Times 10 Dec. 10/2 The provisions of the Ground Game Act had not been observed; tenants were allowed to trap how and when they liked. 1905D. Wallace Lure Labrador Wild iii. 48 Tom Blake..had trapped at the..western end of Grand Lake.
7. To use, handle, or work a trap or traps.
a. (also with it) To use trap-doors on the stage in a theatrical performance. nonce-use.
1886Sat. Rev. 2 Jan. 20/1 Kazrac and the Demon go down and come up trap after trap... They should take a lesson of Mr. Conquest..(we know not whether or not that excellent artist still traps it).
b. To act as a ‘trapper’ in a coal-mine: see trapper n.2 2.
1842[see trapping vbl. n.2]. 1900Daily News 14 Feb. 3/2 ‘How long have you been trapping?’ ‘Since I come down pit, six months ago.’
c. To handle or work a trap in trap-shooting: see trap n.1 4, trapper n.2 3.
Add:[II.] 8. a. Of a racing greyhound: to leave the trap at the start of a race.
1946‘Galgo’ Dog-Racing & Betting iv. 18 There are quite a few greyhounds who trap very smartly, but who lack the early pace necessary to draw clear. 1960‘L. Lamplugh’ Sixpenny Runner x. 114 She trapped better than some of the other new 'uns. She'll have a couple more trials, but if she does as well as today, they'll take her on in racing kennels. 1988Greyhound Star June 8/4 Although he trapped even quicker in his next race, he was unable to lead up A3 company.
b. Of a pigeon: to enter the trap of a loft.
1972Young's Sporting Appliances (S. Young & Sons Ltd.) ii. 54 The most nervous Racer [sc. pigeon] will quickly trap, as there is [sic] no moving wires. 1987Racing Pigeon Pictorial Mar. 81/2 Suddenly she took an interest in the opposite sex and when at exercise or training would trap only into the adult breeding section of the loft.
▪ XI. trap, v.2
[f. trap n.2]
trans. To adorn (a horse, mule, or the like) with trappings; to caparison. (Chiefly in pa. pple.) Rarely (in 19th c.) said in reference to a man.
13..[see trapped ppl. a.2]. 1375Barbour Bruce xiv. 289 The scottis all on fut war then, And thai on stedis trappit weill. c1420Brut 347 A mylke-white stede, sadelled and brydilled, & trapped with white cloth of golde. Ibid. 373 Al þe horsses drawyng þe chare were trappid yn blak. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 25 b, His horse trapped in blew veluet enbroudered with the naues of cartes burnyng of gold. 1621–3Middleton & Rowley Changeling i. i, Call your servants up, And help to trap your horses. 1631Heywood Eng. Eliz. (1641) 63 The Lady Elisabeth..rode in a chariot..drawn with six horses trapt in cloth of silver. 1826Hor. Smith Tor Hill (1838) I. 29 Dudley hastily trapped himself for the field.
b. transf. and fig.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 489 Drapers and..skinners..For suche folk han a special orisoune, That trapped is withe curses..til they be payed for her gere. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807) III. 345 One Agnes Daintie a butterwife..being first trapped with butter dishes, was then set on the pillorie. 1590Marlowe 2nd Part Tamburl. i. i, Fair Europe..Trapt with the wealth and riches of the world. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 178 A Prophecy so trapped with the ornaments of speech. 1903Daily Chron. 10 Apr. 5/1 The old mess jacket was a gorgeous affair of innumerable gold buttons, with a gay scarlet waistcoat, also trapped with gold.
▪ XII. trap, v.3
see under trap n.4 |