trap

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A device made to catch animals.

   I set a trap to catch the mouse in the kitchen.

2. 2
   noun

   A trick or plan made to catch or deceive someone.

   The police set a trap to catch the thief.

3. 3
   verb

   To catch and hold someone or something so they cannot escape.

   The miners were trapped underground for two days.

From Middle English trappe, from Old English træppe, treppe (“trap, snare”) (also in betræppan (“to trap”)) from Proto-West Germanic *trappjā (“trap, snare”), from Proto-West Germanic *trappjan (“to step”), from Proto-Germanic *trapjaną (“to tread, stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ- (“to step, trip, trample”). Cognate with Dutch trap (“step, stair”), German Low German Trapp (“step, stair”). Akin also to West Frisian traap (“stepping, treading, stairway”), German Treppe (“step, stair”), Old English træppan (“to step, tread”). Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". French tr…

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