trapes

T1R1A1P3E1S1

noun

A slattern; an idle, sluttish, or untidy woman.

Scrabble 8
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Meanings

trapes1

verbtrapes (third-person singular simple present trapeses, present participle trapesing, simple past and past participle trapesed)

present singular third person trapeses · participle present trapesing · participle past trapesed · past trapesed

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of traipse in reduced usage since about WWI
nountrapes (plural trapeses)

plural trapeses

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of traipse in reduced usage since about WWI

trapes2

noun
  1. colloquialuncommonA slattern; an idle, sluttish, or untidy woman.

    From door to door I'd sooner whine and beg, ¶ Than marry such a trapes.

    1715, John Gay, The What D'Ye Call It
    2 more examples

    But when he found the sullen Trapes ¶ Possest with th’ Devil, Worms, and Claps,

    1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “[The Third Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Robert Horne, […], published 1679, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 251

    Since full each other ſtation of renown, ¶ Who would not be the greatest Trapes in town?

    1728, [Edward Young], “Satire VI. On Women. Inscrib’d to the Right Honourable the Lady Elizabeth Germain.”, in Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In Seven Characteristical Satires, 4th edition, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson […], published 1741, →OCLC, page 135

trapes3

noun
  1. pluralplural of trape

Origin

trapes · verb, noun

Obscure, as is common among colloquialisms. OED mentions possible association with Dutch trappen (“to tread or stamp the foot”), but objects that the connection is unconvincing.

Full word history & related roots →

trapes · noun

See trape.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

repastPrestapasterPerast
Cite this entry
APA

trapes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapes

MLA

“trapes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapes. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trapes,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapes.

Source: trapes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.