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trap

[t̠ɹ̠̊˔æp]noun, verb

trap is spelled T-R-A-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, trap means “A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of trap is traps.

How many letters and syllables are in trap?

Letters4: T-R-A-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing21 times per million words; the 4,076th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is trap?

Trap appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce trap?

  • /tɹæp/
  • US [t̠ɹ̠̊˔æp]
  • British [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ap]

Trap has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-trap.ogg, En-au-trap.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with trap

Also written: trapp.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with trap?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as trap.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: part, tarp, prat, rapt.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of trap

  • traps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • trapping participle, present
  • trapped participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does trap mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body.

    I put down some traps in my apartment to try and deal with the mouse problem.

  2. 2

    A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.

    Unfortunately she fell into the trap of confusing biology with destiny.

  3. 3

    A (usually fictional) location or feature originally added to a map to detect plagiarism and copyright violations by other map makers or map services.

    trap street

  4. 4

    derogatoryinformaloffensiveslangSomeone with male-typical anatomy who passes as female.

    , The Book of Voltaire: The Complete Bundle (Season 1) 3rd Edition REVISED, Klei Nightwriter I love femboys better than trannies, traps are better than futa anyway. We conversed and we started to get close. I chose her. So, she told me to s

  5. 5

    informalslangA fictional character from anime, or related media, who is coded as or has qualities typically associated with a gender other than the character's ostensible gender; otokonoko, josou.

    Bridget is the super trap

  6. 6

    An exception generated by the processor or by an external event.

  7. 7

    Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.

    They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap.

  8. 8

    A covering over a hole or opening; a trapdoor.

    Close the trap, would you, before someone falls and breaks their neck.

  9. 9

    A dark coloured igneous rock; (now usually) any nongranitic igneous rock.

  10. 10

    slangThe trapezius muscle.

verb

  1. 1

    To physically capture, to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap.

    to trap foxes

  2. 2

    To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.

    Be careful not to trap your finger in the door.

  3. 3

    To provide with a trap.

    to trap a drain

  4. 4

    To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; to travel for the purpose of trapping.

    trap for beaver

  5. 5

    slangTo successfully land an aircraft on an aircraft carrier using the carrier's arresting gear.

    After three consecutive bolters, the pilot finally trapped successfully on the Nimitz.

  6. 6

    To leave suddenly, to flee.

  7. 7

    To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.

  8. 8

    datedTo attend to and open and close a (trap-)door.

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:trap.

  9. 9

    To dress with ornaments; to adorn (especially said of horses).

    She was all trapped out in the gaudiest of clothes.

noun

as TRAP
  1. 1

    USAcronym of targeted regulation of abortion providers.

  2. 2

    Acronym of training-repayment-agreement provision.

  3. 3

    Initialism of twin reversed arterial perfusion.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Trap in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpiège, collet (device designed to catch or kill animals), traquenard, souricière (trick or arrangement designed to catch someone…), trappe (covering over a hole or opening; trapdoor), piéger (to catch in a trap or traps)
GermanFalle (device designed to catch or kill animals), Falltür, Fallgrube (covering over a hole or opening; trapdoor), fangen (to catch in a trap or traps), Siphon, Geruchsverschluss (bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe to…)
Portuguesearmadilha, arapuca (device designed to catch or kill animals), cilada (trick or arrangement designed to catch someone…), alçapão (covering over a hole or opening; trapdoor), prender, enredar (to catch in a trap or traps)
Spanishtrampa, cepo (device designed to catch or kill animals), trampucheta (trick or arrangement designed to catch someone…), atrapar, atrampar (to catch in a trap or traps), sifón (bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe to…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does trap come from?

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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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