deathtrap

American  

[deth-trap] / ˈdɛθˌtræp /

noun

1. a structure, place, or situation where there is imminent risk of death.

   They escaped from the deathtrap just before it exploded.

---

Etymology

Origin of deathtrap

First recorded in 1825–35; death + trap ¹

Example Sentences

The tunnel would turn the delta into “a deathtrap for salmon,” Nelson says, and the Sites Reservoir would degrade downstream waters, possibly increasing temperatures.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2024

The blaze had swept through a government property at 80 Albert Street, a deathtrap of a building where squatters pilfered electricity, built indoor shacks out of cardboard and cooked on paraffin stoves.

From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2023

KYIV, Ukraine — When the power is out, as it so often is, the high-rise apartment overlooking Ukraine’s war-torn capital feels like a deathtrap.

From Washington Times • Nov. 21, 2022

Khalid recalls that his father said: “If you go into a war, it will be a deathtrap and a stalemate.”

From Washington Post • May 28, 2020

The garden, meant to nurture, had become a deathtrap.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman