trap English · revision 5964

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1000}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /træp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English trappe, [[inh|ang|træppe]], treppe “snare, trap”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*trapjǭ]], related to Germanic words for a step or stair, such as Middle Dutch trappe and German Treppe, and to [[tread]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) it is probably, according to Watkins, “that on or into which one steps”, from PIE *dreb-, an extension of a root [[ine-pro|*der-|t=to run, walk, step]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Old French trape and Spanish trampa “trap, pit” are probably akin, but the relationship is unclear.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) The verb is from the noun or from Old English betræppan.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A device for catching animals: before 1000, in Ælfric's glossaries.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative trap, a snare for people, is from about 1200, first in theology;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a trick or deceitful practice from about 1400 in Etymonline and 1681 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to catch in a trap, is from before 1393, in Gower.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A trap door is from about 1385, in Chaucer.^(Barnhart 1988) The slang sense “mouth”, as in ''shut your trap'', is by 1776.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The wooden instrument used in the game of trapball is from the 1590s, and by 1812 any device for releasing or throwing something suddenly, hence trap-shooting.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The U-shaped bend in a drain that keeps gases back is from 1833,^(Etymonline) the police speed trap from 1906,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and the starting box of a greyhound race from 1928.^(OED 1989) A light two-wheeled carriage is a 19th-century sense, perhaps short for rattletrap.^(Hoad 1986) The drums and percussion of a jazz or dance band are ''traps'' from 1925, from trap drummer (1903).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – a snare for animals.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – a snare in the figurative sense.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1385 – trap door.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1393 – to catch in a trap.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1776 – the mouth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1833 – a drain trap.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1906 – a speed trap.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1925 – ''traps'', drums.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device or pit for catching [[animal|alt=animals]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A trick or plan for catching someone unawares.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A U-shaped or S-shaped bend in a [[drain]] pipe that holds water to stop gases escaping.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device that throws clay pigeons into the air for shooting.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(slang)'' The mouth: ''shut your trap''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A light two-wheeled carriage.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # ''(traps)'' The drums and other [[percussion]] instruments of a band.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To catch in a trap.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To trick or force someone into a place or situation they cannot escape from.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To hold back gases or liquids, as by a trap.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trapper]]

+ * [[traplike]]

+ * [[flytrap]]

+ * [[rattrap]]

+ * [[trapline]]

+ * [[trapshooter]]

+ * [[untrap]]

+ * [[trapdoor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[entrap]]

+ * [[entrapment]]

+ * [[tread]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Trap in ''trappings'', ornamental cloth for a horse, is a different word, an alteration of Old French drap “cloth” (see [[drape]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) Trap, a dark igneous rock, is from Swedish trapp, from trappa “stair”, from its step-like appearance (1794).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}