- 1a piece of equipment for catching animals a beaver with its leg in a trap A trap was laid, with fresh bait. see mousetrap trick
- 2a plan designed to trick someone, either by capturing them or by making them do or say something that they did not mean to do or say She had set a trap for him and he walked straight into it. see booby trap, radar trap, tourist trap
- 3[usually singular] an unpleasant situation from which it is hard to escape the unemployment trap Some women see marriage as a trap. see death trap, poverty trap carriage
- 4a light carriage with two wheels, pulled by a horse a pony and trap mouth
- 5(slang) mouth Shut your trap! (= a rude way of telling someone to be quiet) to keep your trap shut (= to not tell a secret) in golf
- 6= bunker Idioms
- 1to make a trap for catching animals close suddenly
- 2to try to trick someone into doing or saying something; to succeed in this
for animals
to do/avoid doing something that is a mistake but which seems at first to be a good idea Parents often fall into the trap of trying to do everything for their children.
Check pronunciation: trap