trap

Universal Words noun, verb noun for animals 1 a piece of equipment for catching animals: a fox with its leg in a trap * A trap was laid, with fresh bait. seealsoMOUSETRAP trick 2 a clever plan designed to trick sb, either by capturing them or by making them do or say sth that they did not mean to do or say: She had set a trap for him and he had walked straight into it. seealsoBOOBYTRAP, RADARTRAP, SANDTRAP, TOURISTTRAP bad situation 3 [usuallysing.] an unpleasant situation from which it is hard to escape: the unemployment trap * Some women see marriage as a trap. seealsoDEATHTRAP, POVERTYTRAP carriage 4 a 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 sb to be quiet) * to keep your trap shut (= to not tell a secret) for racing dog 6 a cage from which a GREYHOUND (= a type of dog) is let out at the start of a race in golf 7 (AmE) = BUNKER IDIOMS to fall into / avoid the trap of doing sth to do/avoid doing sth 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. moreatSPRINGv. verb (-pp-) [VN] in dangerous / bad situation 1 [oftenpassive] to keep sb in a dangerous place or bad situation that they want to get out of but cannot: Help! I'm trapped! * They were trapped in the burning building. * We became trapped by the rising flood water. * He was trapped in an unhappy marriage. * I feel trapped in my job. part of body / clothing 2 [usually +adv./prep.] to have part of your body, your clothing, etc. held in a place so tightly that you cannot remove it and it may be injured or damaged: I trapped my coat in the car door. * The pain was caused by a trapped nerve. catch 3 to catch or keep sth in a place and prevent it from escaping, especially so that you can use it: Solar panels trap energy from the sun. 4 to force sb/sth into a place or situation that they cannot escape from, especially in order to catch them: The escaped prisoners were eventually trapped in an underground garage and recaptured. * Police believe the fingerprints could help trap the killer. 5 to catch an animal in a trap: Raccoons used to be trapped for their fur. trick 6 ~ sb (into sth / into doing sth) to trick sb into sth: He felt he had been trapped into accepting the terms of the contract. * The police managed to trap him into revealing his true identity.