Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - trap

~1 n 1 »FOR ANIMALS« a piece of equipment for catching animals  (a mouse caught in a trap | set a trap (=prepare it))  (- see also mousetrap) 2 »BAD SITUATION« an unpleasant or difficult situation that is difficult to escape from  (Amanda felt that marriage was a trap.) 3 »CLEVER TRICK« a clever trick that is used to catch someone or to make them do or say something that they did not intend to  (fall/walk into a trap)  (Hopefully, the thief will fall right into our trap. | lay a trap (for) (=arrange a trap for someone)) 4 fall into the trap of doing sth to do something that seems good at the time but is not sensible or wise  (Don't fall into the trap of investing all your money in one place.) 5 keep your trap shut spoken to not say anything about things that are secret  (Just keep your trap shut, and we won't get into trouble.) 6 shut your trap! spoken a rude way of telling someone to stop talking 7 »VEHICLE« a light vehicle with two wheels, pulled by a horse  (a pony and trap) 8 »SPORT« AmE a place on a golf course where there is sand, and from which it is difficult to hit the ball; bunker (3) BrE 9 »DOG RACE« a special gate from which a dog is set free at the beginning of a greyhound race  (- see also booby trap, death trap, poverty trap, speed trap) ~2 v 1 »IN A DANGEROUS PLACE« usually passive to prevent someone from escaping from a dangerous place  (Twenty miners were trapped underground.) 2 »IN A BAD SITUATION« be trapped to be in a bad situation from which you cannot escape  (Julia felt trapped in a dead end job.) 3 »ANIMAL« to catch an animal or bird using a trap 4 »CATCH SB« to catch someone by forcing them into a place from which they cannot escape  (The police trapped the terrorists at a roadblock.) 5 »TRICK SB« to trick someone so that you make them do or say something that they did not intend to  (trap sb into (doing) sth)  (I was trapped into signing a confession.) 6 »CRUSH« to get a part of your body crushed between two objects  (a four-year-old who had trapped his fingers in the door | pain from a trapped nerve in the back) 7 »GAS/WATER ETC« to hold and keep gas, water etc so that it can be used later  (solar panels that trap the sun's heat)