Trap

1. a contrivance used for catching game or other animals, as a mechanical device that springs shut suddenly. 2. any device, stratagem, trick, or the like for catching a person unawares. 3. any of various devices for removing undesirable substances from a moving fluid, vapor, etc., as water from steam or cinders from coal gas. 4. Also called air trap. an arrangement in a pipe, as a double curve or a U -shaped section, in which liquid remains and forms a seal for preventing the passage or escape of air or of gases through the pipe from behind or below. 5. traps, the percussion instruments of a jazz or dance band. 6. Trapshooting, Skeet. a device for hurling clay pigeons into the air. 7. the piece of wood, shaped somewhat like a shoe hollowed at the heel, and moving on a pivot, used in playing the game of trapball. 8. the game of trapball. 9. trap door. 10. Sports. an act or instance of trapping a ball. 11. Also called mousetrap, trap play. Football. a play in which a defensive player, usually a guard or tackle, is allowed by the team on offense to cross the line of scrimmage into the backfield and is then blocked out from the side, thereby letting the ball-carrier run through the opening in the line. 12. Slang. mouth: Keep your trap shut. 13. Chiefly British. a carriage, especially a light, two-wheeled one.