Macbeth trap

noun

A kind of stage trapdoor rigged to drop below floor level and slide to one side.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounMacbeth trap (plural Macbeth traps)

plural Macbeth traps

  1. entertainmentA kind of stage trapdoor rigged to drop below floor level and slide to one side.

Origin

Named after Shakespeare's play Macbeth, in which such a contrivance could be used to bring the ghost of Banquo onto the stage.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Macbeth trap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Macbeth%20trap

MLA

“Macbeth trap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Macbeth%20trap. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Macbeth trap,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Macbeth%20trap.

Source: Macbeth trap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.