a contrivance used for catching game or other animals, as a mechanical device that springs shut suddenly.

any device, stratagem, trick, or the like for catching a person unawares.

any of various devices for removing undesirable substances from a moving fluid, vapor, etc., as water from steam or cinders from coal gas.

Also called air trap. an arrangement in a pipe, as a double curve or a U -shaped section, in which liquid remains and forms a seal for preventing the passage or escape of air or of gases through the pipe from behind or below.

traps, the percussion instruments of a jazz or dance band.

Trapshooting, Skeet . a device for hurling clay pigeons into the air.

the piece of wood, shaped somewhat like a shoe hollowed at the heel, and moving on a pivot, used in playing the game of trapball.

the game of trapball.

trap door.

Sports . an act or instance of trapping a ball.

Also called mousetrap , trap play. Football . a play in which a defensive player, usually a guard or tackle, is allowed by the team on offense to cross the line of scrimmage into the backfield and is then blocked out from the side, thereby letting the ball-carrier run through the opening in the line.

Slang . mouth

Keep your trap shut.

Chiefly British . a carriage, esp. a light, two-wheeled one.

to catch in a trap; ensnare

to trap foxes.

to catch by stratagem, artifice, or trickery.

to furnish or set with traps.

to provide (a drain or the like) with a trap.

to stop and hold by a trap, as air in a pipe.

Sports . to catch (a ball) as it rises after having just hit the ground.

Football . to execute a trap against (a defensive player).

to set traps for game

He was busy trapping.

to engage in the business of trapping animals for their furs.

Trapshooting, Skeet . to work the trap.

verb

let go , release

noun

allurement , ambuscade , ambush , artifice , bait , booby trap * , come-on * , conspiracy , deception , decoy , device , dragnet , enticement , feint , gambit , hook * , intrigue , inveiglement , lasso * , lure , machination , maneuver , net , noose , pitfall , plot , ploy , prank , quagmire , quicksand , ruse , seducement , snag * , stratagem , subterfuge , temptation , wile , snare , booby trap , deadfall , gin , incarceration , springe , toil

verb

ambuscade , ambush , beguile , box in , circumvent , collar * , corner * , corral * , deceive , decoy , dupe , enmesh , ensnare , entangle , entrap , fool , grab , hook , inveigle , land * , mousetrap , nab , nail * , net , overtake , rope in , seduce , snag , suck in , surprise , take , tangle , trammel , trip up * , ensnarl , snare , web , artifice , bag , bait , cage , capture , catch , confound , conspiracy , corner , deadfall , dragnet , enticement , hazard , incarcerate , lure , maneuver , nail , pit , pitfall , ploy , roadblock , seal , stratagem , temptation , trapan , trick