entrap
Americanverb (used with object)
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to catch in or as in a trap; ensnare.
The hunters used nets to entrap the lion.
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to bring unawares into difficulty or danger.
He entrapped himself in the web of his own lies.
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to lure into performing an act or making a statement that is compromising or illegal.
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to draw into contradiction or damaging admission.
The questioner entrapped her into an admission of guilt.
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Law. to catch by entrapment.
verb
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to catch or snare in or as if in a trap
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to lure or trick into danger, difficulty, or embarrassment
Other Word Forms
- entrapper noun
- entrappingly adverb
- unentrapped adjective
Etymology
Origin of entrap
From the Middle French word entraper, dating back to 1525–35. See en- 1, trap 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Chip makers use it as a carrier gas to entrap and transport certain chemicals, transfer energy to chemical reactants and cool silicon wafers during production.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026
The document outlines the myriad ways the country’s security agents would try to surveil, entrap, compromise and recruit American visitors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
"You could be kids messing about or someone trying to entrap me," I suggested.
From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025
AI will entrap us in a matrix where none of us know what’s real.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2024
No telling whether the voices were fox spirits, imitating the voices of loved ones, out to entrap her.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
