Meanings
present singular third person entraps · participle present entrapping · participle past entrapped · past entrapped
- transitiveTo 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 1891 more example
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
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchentraper
- Middle Frenchentrapper
- Englishentrap
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).
More words from Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek παγιδεύω
- παγιδεύω (pagideúō)catch something in a trap
Chinese Mandarin 設陷阱捕捉 /设陷阱捕捉, 陷害
- 設陷阱捕捉 /设陷阱捕捉 (shè xiànjǐng bǔzhuō)catch something in a trap
- 陷害 (xiànhài)catch something in a trap
- 引誘 /引诱 (yǐnyòu)lure someone
- 誘騙 /诱骗 (yòupiàn)lure someone
Finnish ansastaa, viekoitella
- ansastaacatch something in a trap
- viekoitellalure someone
German verstricken, verleiten
- verstrickenlure someone
- verleitenlure someone
Latin illaqueō
- illaqueōcatch something in a trap
Māori whakahīrau
- whakahīraucatch something in a trap
Spanish entrampar, entrampillar
- entramparcatch something in a trap
- entrampillarcatch something in a trap
- entramparlure someone
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with entrap
Anagrams
Cite this entry
entrap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entrap
“entrap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entrap. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “entrap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entrap.
Source: entrap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.