10  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trap  \Trap\,  v.  t.  [AS.  treppan.  See  {Trap}  a  snare.] 
  1.  To  catch  in  a  trap  or  traps;  as  to  trap  foxes. 
 
  2.  Fig.:  To  insnare;  to  take  by  stratagem;  to  entrap.  ``I 
  trapped  the  foe.''  --Dryden. 
 
  3.  To  provide  with  a  trap;  as  to  trap  a  drain;  to  trap  a 
  sewer  pipe.  See  4th  {Trap},  5. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trap  \Trap\,  v.  i. 
  To  set  traps  for  game;  to  make  a  business  of  trapping  game; 
  as  to  trap  for  beaver. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trap  \Trap\,  a. 
  Of  or  pertaining  to  trap  rock;  as  a  trap  dike. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trap  \Trap\,  n.  [OE.  trappe,  AS  treppe;  akin  to  OD  trappe, 
  OHG.  trapo;  probably  fr  the  root  of  E.  tramp,  as  that  which 
  is  trod  upon:  cf  F.  trappe,  which  is  trod  upon:  cf  F. 
  trappe,  which  perhaps  influenced  the  English  word.] 
  1.  A  machine  or  contrivance  that  shuts  suddenly,  as  with  a 
  spring,  used  for  taking  game  or  other  animals;  as  a  trap 
  for  foxes. 
 
  She  would  weep  if  that  she  saw  a  mouse  Caught  in  a 
  trap.  --Chaucer. 
 
  2.  Fig.:  A  snare;  an  ambush;  a  stratagem;  any  device  by  which 
  one  may  be  caught  unawares. 
 
  Let  their  table  be  made  a  snare  and  a  trap.  --Rom. 
  xi  9. 
 
  God  and  your  majesty  Protect  mine  innocence,  or  I 
  fall  into  The  trap  is  laid  for  me!  --Shak. 
 
  3.  A  wooden  instrument  shaped  somewhat  like  a  shoe,  used  in 
  the  game  of  trapball.  It  consists  of  a  pivoted  arm  on  one 
  end  of  which  is  placed  the  ball  to  be  thrown  into  the  air 
  by  striking  the  other  end  Also  a  machine  for  throwing 
  into  the  air  glass  balls,  clay  pigeons,  etc.,  to  be  shot 
  at 
 
  4.  The  game  of  trapball. 
 
  5.  A  bend,  sag,  or  partitioned  chamber,  in  a  drain,  soil 
  pipe,  sewer,  etc.,  arranged  so  that  the  liquid  contents 
  form  a  seal  which  prevents  passage  of  air  or  gas,  but 
  permits  the  flow  of  liquids. 
 
  6.  A  place  in  a  water  pipe,  pump,  etc.,  where  air  accumulates 
  for  want  of  an  outlet. 
 
  7.  A  wagon,  or  other  vehicle.  [Colloq.]  --Thackeray. 
 
  8.  A  kind  of  movable  stepladder.  --Knight. 
 
  {Trap  stairs},  a  staircase  leading  to  a  trapdoor. 
 
  {Trap  tree}  (Bot.)  the  jack;  --  so  called  because  it 
  furnishes  a  kind  of  birdlime.  See  1st  {Jack}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trap  \Trap\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Trapped};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Trapping}.]  [Akin  to  OE  trappe  trappings,  and  perhaps  from 
  an  Old  French  word  of  the  same  origin  as  E.  drab  a  kind  of 
  cloth.] 
  To  dress  with  ornaments;  to  adorn;  --  said  especially  of 
  horses. 
 
  Steeds  .  .  .  that  trapped  were  in  steel  all  glittering. 
  --Chaucer. 
 
  To  deck  his  hearse,  and  trap  his  tomb-black  steed. 
  --Spenser. 
 
  There  she  found  her  palfrey  trapped  In  purple  blazoned 
  with  armorial  gold.  --Tennyson. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trap  \Trap\,  n.  [Sw.  trapp;  akin  to  trappa  stairs,  Dan.  trappe, 
  G.  treppe,  D.  trap;  --  so  called  because  the  rocks  of  this 
  class  often  occur  in  large  tabular  masses,  rising  above  one 
  another,  like  steps.  See  {Tramp}.]  (Geol.) 
  An  old  term  rather  loosely  used  to  designate  various 
  dark-colored,  heavy  igneous  rocks,  including  especially  the 
  feldspathic-augitic  rocks,  basalt,  dolerite,  amygdaloid, 
  etc.,  but  including  also  some  kinds  of  diorite.  Called  also 
  {trap  rock}. 
 
  {Trap  tufa},  {Trap  tuff},  a  kind  of  fragmental  rock  made  up 
  of  fragments  and  earthy  materials  from  trap  rocks. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  trap 
  n  1:  a  device  in  which  something  (usually  an  animal)  can  be 
  caught  and  penned 
  2:  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";  "it  was  all  a  snare  and  delusion"  [syn:  {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  [syn:  {ambush},  {ambuscade},  {lying  in  wait}] 
  6:  informal  terms  for  the  mouth  [syn:  {hole},  {maw},  {yap}] 
  7:  a  light  two-wheel  carriage 
  8:  a  hazard  on  a  golf  course  [syn:  {bunker},  {sand  trap}] 
  v  1:  place  in  a  confining  or  embarrassing  position;  "He  was 
  trapped  in  a  difficult  situation" 
  2:  catch  in  or  as  if  in  a  trap;  "The  men  trap  foxes"  [syn:  {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  "The  child  was  pinned 
  under  the  fallen  tree"  [syn:  {pin},  {immobilize}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  trap  1.  n.  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.  vi  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). 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  trap 
 
  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  {deterministic}ally  repeatable  exceptions  from 
  timing-dependent  ones  (such  as  I/O  interrupts). 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
 
 
  From  V.E.R.A.  --  Virtual  Entity  of  Relevant  Acronyms  13  March  2001  [vera]: 
 
  TRAP 
  Tandem  Recursive  Algorithm  Process 
 
 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words