rat trapn.adj.
/ˈrat trap/, U.S. /ˈræ(t) ˌtræp/ A. n.
1.
a. A trap for catching and usually killing rats, especially one with a spring bar which snaps down on to the rat when it touches a piece of cheese or other bait attached to the mechanism. Also figurative: a difficult or trying situation, a predicament.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > trap for vermin
falleOE
mousefalleOE
stockc1175
mouse stocka1225
mousecatcha1382
mousetrap1440
rat trap1469
Samson's post1577
whipa1589
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > pest control > [noun] > extermination of rats > rat-trap
rat trap1469
1469 in T. Wright Churchwardens' Accts. St. Michael, Cornhill (1869) 174 (MED) Payed for iij rat trappes for the chirche, vj d.
1641 T. Heywood Rat-trap 29 He..exposed himselfe unto all the penalty and dangers of the law..being taken, and in the Rat-trap held by the leg, for feare of slipping away.
1676 R. Hooke Diary 24 Sept. (1935) 251 Mr. Balls rat traps with a hair and a stick with a bell in clay.
1711 E. Freke Diary 18 Oct. in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1912) 18 207 1 New Iron Ratt Trap.
1790 Pennsylvania Packet 1 Mar. 1/1 This Day..Will commence the Sale of a Large and General Assortment of..rat traps,..gimblets, draw and lifting handles.
1820 W. Scott Monastery III. v. 139 Men peeping through their own bars like so many rats in a rat-trap.
1884 Duke of St. Albans in Contemp. Rev. Aug. 172 A Peer..finds himself in a rat-trap from which politically there is no escape except death.
1933 Jrnl. Mammalogy 14 133 A mouse caught in a rat trap last summer had its tail broken off near the base but was otherwise uninjured.
1991 Descant Summer 58 The successful immigrant adapts as quickly as possible, tolerates the rat-trap of his first job, goes on to open up a business.
2002 J. McGahern That they may face Rising Sun (2003) 17 Empty houses, falling-down houses, one house on the mountain, its floor covered with rat traps.
b. colloquial. In extended use: a shabby or ramshackle building or residence.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > types of building generally > [noun] > shabby or ramshackle building
rat trap1790
ramshackle1820
fleabag1907
1790 Times 27 Aug. 2/3 The Duke of Queensbury deserts his magnificent Chateau in Scotland, his beautiful seat in Wiltshire, and his elegant Villa at Richmond, for dancing about his Rat trap in Piccadilly.
1838 T. De Quincey Househ. Wreck in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 21/2 Ay, but mind you—put case that he or that she should die in this rat-trap before sentence is past.
1892 ‘M. Twain’ Amer. Claimant iv. 56 It wouldn't have occurred to anybody else to name this poor old rat-trap Rossmore Towers.
1910 Indiana (Pa.) Weekly Messenger 18 May 2/1 He don't deserve no light in front of his old place; most tumbledown old rat trap in Upper Village! The miserly old codger!
1993 M. Tem & N. Holder Making Love v. 48 It was a stark, dirty rattrap, with tattered art posters.
2. A rat-trap bicycle pedal (see sense B. 2).
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle propelled by feet > [noun] > cycle > parts and equipment of cycles > pedals and parts
pedal1845
grip treadle1881
toe-strap1884
grip-pedal1885
rat trap1887
treadle1887
toe-clip1895
bear trap1984
1887 Viscount Bury & G. L. Hillier Cycling (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) iii. 171 Pedals..should be preferably rat-traps which afford a good hold for the feet.
1931 H. W. Bartleet Bartleet's Bicycle Bk. 33 Every practical cyclist who saw my pedals praised the scheme of rattrap and rubber in combination.
1988 Bicycle Midsummer 45/1 Pedals are the Lyotard alloy rattraps usually found on touring bikes, but they suit the purpose and accept toeclips readily.
B. adj.
1. Esp. of the mouth or jaws: that resembles a rat-trap.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > jaws > [adjective] > conditions or positions of
tut-mouthed?a1513
underhung1809
wappera1825
rat trap1838
1838 Times 11 Jan. 6/6 Mr. Grote's rat-trap ballot box... The box, in shape and size, very much resembles the large wooden rat-traps which are often to be met with around farm-steadings.
1904 Westm. Gaz. 3 Mar. 1/3 A gaunt man with a rat-trap face.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 20 Sept. 4/2 His [sc. a pike's] rat-trap jaws.
1978 R. Westall Devil on Road xxiii. 217 He had a rat-trap jaw and little deep-set eyes.
1994 Contemp. Rev. Apr. 180 Taylor did not care about getting it right, he preferred to make snap judgements with that dogmatic, lecturing, rat-trap mouth.
2. Designating a bicycle pedal consisting of a frame holding two parallel metal plates with serrated or toothed edges, which provide grip.
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1885 Bazaar, Exchange & Mart 30 Mar. 1275/1 Balls to all bearings and pedals, which are rattrap.
1936 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 8 July 18/1 Gayle..identified the shoes by certain scratches on the soles, which he said were caused by the rat-trap pedals of his bicycle.
1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 28 June 2- c (advt.) Rat trap pedals... Big ‘knobby’ tread tires.
2004 Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.) (Nexis) 3 Dec. b1 A brand-new racing bike with rat-trap pedals.
Compounds
rat-trap bond n. Bricklaying a form of Flemish bond (Flemish bond at bond n.1 13a) in which the bricks are laid on edge and the headers span the whole thickness of wall, dividing the wall cavity into square spaces.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > disposition of stones or bricks > [adjective] > specific dispositions
herringbone1700
random1703
brick-on-edge1750
Cyclopean1822
uncoursed1825
long and short1835
inbond1842
throughband1844
isodomous1850
coursed1851
brick veneer1881
out-bond1882
joint-bedded1883
snecked1883
rat-trap bond1932
coigned-
1932 E. Gunn Econ. House Design ix. 31 Brickwork beneath the tile hanging should be built in rat trap bond.
1939 E. Gunn Building Technique 39/1 Rat-trap or box-bond... This form of walling, which may be briefly described as Flemish-bond with all bricks laid on edge, is well-recognised in Sussex and adjoining counties where tile-hung walls are common.
2000 Architects' Jrnl. 18 May 31/4 I also have anecdotal evidence of rat-trap bond being used circa 1900 in back-additions of South Wales houses.
rat-trap cheese n. U.S. colloquial = rat cheese n. at rat n.1 Compounds 2; cf. mousetrap cheese n. at mousetrap n. Compounds 2.
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the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > cheese > [noun] > mousetrap cheese
mousetrap1650
rat-trap cheese1910
rat cheese1922
1910 M. R. Rinehart Window at White Cat 97 It's rat-trap cheese, that stuff.
2006 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 22 Jan. 4 I've done some creative culinary work with things like vienna sausages..and thawed chicken potpies enhanced by my own garnishments such as chile peppers and rat trap cheese.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1469