Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To catch in or as if in a trap.
- transitive verb To lure into danger, difficulty, or a compromising situation. synonym: catch.
- transitive verb Law To induce (someone) into performing an otherwise uncontemplated criminal act for the sole purpose of providing the basis for a prosecution.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To catch, as in a trap; insnare; hence, to catch by artifice; involve in difficulties or distresses; entangle; catch or involve in contradictions.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To catch in a trap; to insnare; hence, to catch, as in a trap, by artifices; to involve in difficulties or distresses; to catch or involve in contradictions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
catch something in atrap orsnare . - verb transitive To
lure someone, either into adangerous situation , or into performing anillegal act .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take or catch as if in a snare or trap
- verb catch in or as if in a trap
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Somewhere or other that downy bird Kipling observes that the lesson of the island race is to put away all emotion and entrap the alien at the proper time. 16 I learned it in my cradle, long before he wrote it, and have practised it all my life with some success, and only this difference, that for "entrap" I prefer to substitute "escape".
Watershed 2010
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These clients often attempt to manipulate with words, performance skills, dollars and the reflected glory of their celebrity and then "entrap" the ofttimes well-intentioned but blindly ambitious physician into becoming a part of their "entourage."
Celebrity "Roadkill": A Black Box Warning for Physicians 2010
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These clients often attempt to manipulate with words, performance skills, dollars and the reflected glory of their celebrity and then "entrap" the ofttimes well-intentioned but blindly ambitious physician into becoming a part of their "entourage."
Gary Cohan: Celebrity "Roadkill": A Black Box Warning for Physicians Gary Cohan 2010
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These clients often attempt to manipulate with words, performance skills, dollars and the reflected glory of their celebrity and then "entrap" the ofttimes well-intentioned but blindly ambitious physician into becoming a part of their "entourage."
Gary Cohan: Celebrity "Roadkill": A Black Box Warning for Physicians 2010
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These clients often attempt to manipulate with words, performance skills, dollars and the reflected glory of their celebrity and then "entrap" the ofttimes well-intentioned but blindly ambitious physician into becoming a part of their "entourage."
Gary Cohan: Celebrity "Roadkill": A Black Box Warning for Physicians 2009
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Somewhere or other that downy bird Kipling observes that the lesson of the island race is to put away all emotion and entrap the alien at the proper time. 16 I learned it in my cradle, long before he wrote it, and have practised it all my life with some success, and only this difference, that for "entrap" I prefer to substitute "escape".
Flashman And The Tiger Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1999
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It was no easy matter to oblige her cousin to understand what she meant; but at last the declaration that she had refused her old lover because she had placed her affections upon Edwin Lechmere, whom she was endeavouring to "entrap," was not to be mistaken; and the country girl was altogether unprepared for the burst of indignant feeling, mingled with much bitterness, which repelled the untruth.
Turns of Fortune And Other Tales S. C. Hall 1840
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Jones told the hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court that British government and judicial officials had worked together to "entrap" Khurts.
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Zanis replied that he'd pretended to smoke the pot in order to "entrap" the tenant, whom he wanted to evict.
Chicago Reader 2010
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And to those who say "Don't our law enforcement officers have something better to do than trying to 'entrap' businesses?" we'd offer this response: Would you rather they were racing to the scene of an alcohol-related crash involving a car filled with teenagers?
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