trap meaning

Noun: trap  trap

1. A device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned 
2. Drain consisting of a U-shaped section of drainpipe that holds liquid and so prevents a return flow of sewer gas 
3. Something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares
   "the exam was full of trap questions"
   - snare 
4. A device to hurl clay pigeons into the air for trapshooters 
5. The act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise
   - ambush, ambuscade, lying in wait 
6. Informal term for the mouth
   - cakehole [Brit], hole, maw, yap, gob [Brit] 
7. A light two-wheeled carriage 
8. A hazard on a golf course
   - bunker, sand trap

Verb: trap (trapped,trapping)  trap

1. Place in a confining or embarrassing position
   "He was trapped in a difficult situation"
   - pin down 
2. Catch in or as if in a trap
   "The men trap foxes"
   - entrap, snare, ensnare, trammel 
3. Hold or catch as if in a trap
   "The gaps between the teeth trap food particles" 
4. To hold fast or prevent from moving
   - pin, immobilize, immobilise [Brit]

Derived forms: traps, trapped, trapping

See also: trapper

Type of: capture, carriage, catch, confine, coup de main, design, detain, device, drain, drainpipe, equipage, hazard, hold, mechanical device, mouth, oral cavity, oral fissure, plan, rig, rima oris, surprise attack, take hold, waste pipe

Part of: golf course, links course

Encyclopedia: Trap

[American slang]
n. the mouth. (Crude.)
• Shut your trap!
• Put this in your trap and chew it up.

[British slang]
Noun. The mouth. E.g."Shut your trap you noisy bugger.”

[Architecture]
1.

A device to maintain a water seal against sewer gases, air, and odors; also called a stench trap.

2.

A removable section of a theater stage floor.

3.

Same as traprock.

[Defence]
tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (Marine Corps); tactical related applications; tanks, racks, adapters, and pylons; terrorism research and analysis program

[Economics]
See liquidity trap, and poverty trap

[Electronics]
1. See WAVETRAP.
2. In a semiconductor crystal, an imperfection capable of trapping current carriers.

[Oil and gas]
A geological structure in which hydrocarbons build up to form an oil or gas field. See also: structural trap.

[Computer]
1. A program interrupt, usually an interrupt caused by some exceptional situation in the user program. In most cases, the OS performs some action, then returns control to the program.

2. To cause a trap. "These instructions trap to the monitor." Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the trap. "The monitor traps all input/output instructions."

This term is associated with assembler programming ("interrupt" or "exception" is more common among HLL programmers) and appears to be fading into history among programmers as the role of assembler continues to shrink. However, it is still important to computer architects and systems hackers (see system, sense 1), who use it to distinguish deterministically repeatable exceptions from timing-dependent ones (such as I/O interrupts).

• s-trap:    [Architecture]An S ...
• building trap, main trap:    [Architecture]A ru ...
• absorption trap:    [Electronics]See W ...

Examples

More:   Next

1. the russians did, to trap napoleon.
2. for some women marriage is a trap.
3. it seemed such a pitiful stupid trap.
4. i am the hunter; i am the one who sets traps.
5. a filter traps dust from the air.