Category:Trap

Trap, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trapped; p. pr. & vb. n. Trapping.] Etym: [akin to oe. trappe trappings, and perhaps from an old french word of The same origin as e. drab a kind of cloth.]

Defn: to dress with ornaments; to adorn; -- said especially of Horses. Steeds. . . that trapped were in steel all glittering. Chaucer. To deck his hearse, and trap his tomb-black steed. Spenser. There she found her palfrey trapped in purple blazoned with armorial Gold. Tennyson.

Trap Trap, n. Etym: [sw. trapp; akin to trappa stairs, dan. trappe, g. Treppe, d. trap; -- so called because the rocks of this class often Occur in large, tabular masses, rising above one another, like steps. See tramp.] (geol.)

Defn: an old term rather loosely used to designate various dark- Colored, heavy igneous rocks, including especially the feldspathic- Augitic rocks, basalt, dolerite, amygdaloid, etc., but including also Some kinds of diorite. Called also trap rock. Trap tufa, trap tuff, a Kind of fragmental rock made up of fragments and earthy materials From trap rocks.

Trap Trap, a.

Defn: of or pertaining to trap rock; as, a trap dike.

Trap Trap, n. Etym: [oe. trappe, as. treppe; akin to od.trappe, ohg. Trapo; probably fr. the root of e. tramp, as that which is trod upon: Cf. F. trappe, which is trod upon: cf. F. trappe, which perhaps Influenced the english word.]

1. A machine or contrivance that shuts suddenly, as with a spring, Used for taking game or other animals; as, a trap for foxes. She would weep if that she saw a mouse caught in a trap. Chaucer.

2. Fig.: A snare; an ambush; a stratagem; any device by which one may Be caught unawares. Let their table be made a snare and a trap. Rom. xi. 9. God and your majesty protect mine innocence, or i fall into the trap Is laid for me! Shak.

3. A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game Of trapball. It consists of a pivoted arm on one end of which is Placed the ball to be thrown into the air by striking the other end. Also, a machine for throwing into the air glass balls, clay pigeons, Etc., to be shot at.

4. The game of trapball.

5. A bend, sag, or partitioned chamber, in a drain, soil pipe, sewer, Etc., arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents Passage of air or gas, but permits the flow of liquids.

6. A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for Want of an outlet.

7. A wagon, or other vehicle. [colloq.] Thackeray.

8. A kind of movable stepladder. Knight. Trap stairs, a staircase Leading to a trapdoor. -- trap tree (bot.) the jack; -- so called because it furnishes a Kind of birdlime. See 1st jack.

Trap Trap, v. t. Etym: [as. treppan. See trap a snare.]

1. To catch in a trap or traps; as, to trap foxes.

2. Fig.: To insnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap. "i trapped the Foe." Dryden.

3. To provide with a trap; to trap a drain; to trap a sewer pipe. See 4th trap, 5.

Trap Trap, v. i.

Defn: to set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; as, To trap for beaver.