booby trap

¹

noun

1. a hidden bomb or mine so placed that it will be set off by an unsuspecting person through such means as moving an apparently harmless object.
2. any hidden trap set for an unsuspecting person.

booby-trap

²

[ boo-bee-trap ]

verb (used with object)

, boo·by-trapped, boo·by-trap·ping.

1. to set with or as if with a booby trap; attach a booby trap to or in.

booby trap

noun

1. a hidden explosive device primed in such a way as to be set off by an unsuspecting victim
2. a trap for an unsuspecting person, esp one intended as a practical joke, such as an object balanced above a door to fall on the person who opens it

verb

1. tr to set a booby trap in or on (a building or object) or for (a person)

Word History and Origins

Origin of booby trap¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Origin of booby trap²

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Just days before the attack, a popular sergeant had been blown apart by a booby trap that took another soldier’s arms and legs and blinded a third.

From Los Angeles Times

With a chilly austerity worthy of Stanley Kubrick or Michael Haneke, Glazer turns a static shot into a booby trap and a daily activity into an indictment.

From Los Angeles Times

The device appeared to have been a booby trap, though police never confirmed that.

From Seattle Times

“The Zone of Interest,” which will be released in the U.S. by A24, is as methodically engineered a cinematic booby trap — for its characters, and its audience — as anything Haneke has ever directed.

From Los Angeles Times

The team, operating outside Lyman, which was liberated from Russian forces last fall, found one booby trap with a trick to fool de-mining teams, a common occurrence.

From New York Times

Related Words

• land mine