Dictionary

entrap en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɪnˈtɹæp/

Etymology

From Middle French entrapper, entraper, from Old French entraper, antraper (“catch in a trap”), equivalent to en- + trap. Compare Middle English bitrappen, from Old English betræppan (“to catch in a trap, entrap”), from the same West Germanic source (see Modern English betrap).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To catch in a trap or snare.
   • He goes home to complain to his father, and the two of them decide on a plan to entrap Enkidu. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 189:
   • Then noble ſouldiers to intrap these theeues […] We haue our Cammels laden al with gold: Which you that be but common ſouldiers, Shall fling in euery corner of the field: And while the baſe borne Tartars take it vp, You […] Shall maſſacre those greedie minded ſlaues. c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
2. (transitive) To lure (someone), either into a dangerous situation, or into performing an illegal act.

Forms

Deriveds

unentrapped · entrappingly · entrapment · nonentrapped

Synonyms

ensnare · betrap

Translations (19)

de verleiten (lure someone) · fi viekoitella (lure someone) · sq kurthoj (catch something in a trap) · oc enganar (lure someone) · oc lurar (lure someone) · de verstricken (lure someone) · oc atrapar (lure someone) · mi whakahīrau (catch something in a trap) · es entrampar (lure someone) · es entrampar (catch something in a trap) · cmn 誘騙 /诱骗 (lure someone) · la illaqueō (catch something in a trap) · oc atrapar (catch something in a trap) · es entrampillar (catch something in a trap) · grc παγιδεύω (catch something in a trap) · cmn 設陷阱捕捉 /设陷阱捕捉 (catch something in a trap) · cmn 引誘 /引诱 (lure someone) · fi ansastaa (catch something in a trap) · cmn 陷害 (catch something in a trap)