trapan
Syllables: trap·an/tɹəˈpæn/
trapan noun: an act of entrapping or tricking; an entrapment; also, a thing which entraps or tricks; a snare or trap; a stratagem or trick. Also the alternative spelling of trepan.
Noun
trapan (plural trapans)
- An act of entrapping or tricking; an entrapment; also, a thing which entraps or tricks; a snare or trap; a stratagem or trick.
- As for all other Pretences, they are nothing but Death and Damnation, dreſſed up in Fair VVords and Falſe Shevvs; nothing but Ginns, and Snares, and Trepans for Souls; Contrived by the Devil, and Managed by ſuch as the Devil ſets on VVork.1661 December 19 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1698, Robert South, “False Foundations Removed, and True Ones Laid for such Wise Builders as Design to Build for Eternity. In a...
- [A] Man ſhould fix and fore-arm his Mind vvith this ſettled Perſvvaſion, that, during that Commotion of his Blood and Spirits, in vvhich Paſſion properly conſiſts, vvhatſoever is offered to the Imagination in favour of it, tends only to deceive his Reaſon. It is indeed a real Trapan upon it...1678 November 19 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1694, Robert South, “Prevention of Sin an Unvaluable Mercy: or, A Sermon Preached upon that Subject, on 1 Sam[uel] XXV. 32, 33....
- A person (or occasionally an animal) that traps or tricks another into doing something that benefits them but harms the victim; a fraudster, a swindler, a trickster.
- [O]ld associates who had once thought him [Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston] a man of dauntless courage and spotless honour, […] now pronounced that he was at best a meanspirited coward, and hinted their suspicions that he had been from the beginning a spy and a trepan.1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume IV, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 32
Verb
trapan (third-person singular simple present trapans, present participle trapanning, simple past and past participle trapanned)
- To catch or entrap (a person or animal) in a snare or trap; to ensnare, to trap.
- Each of 'em has a ſev'ral Gin, / To catch Intelligences in. / Some by the Noſe vvith fumes trapan 'em, / As Dunſtan did the Devil's Grannum.1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “Canto III”, in Hudibras. The Second Part. […], London: […] T[homas] R[oycroft] for John Martyn, and James Allestry […], →OCLC, page 175
- "I cannot think," he said, after a moment's pause, "that the fellow means to trepan us; and in any event, I trust we should have no difficulty in forcing the door, or otherwise making an escape.[…]"1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 163
- To trap or trick (someone), especially by using some stratagem, into doing something that benefits the perpetrator but harms the victim; to defraud, to ensnare, to entrap, to swindle.
- […] [Edmund] Plovvden being of the Romiſh perſvvaſion, ſome Setters trapanned him (pardon the prolepſis) to hear Maſſe: But aftervvards Plovvden underſtanding, that the pretender to Officiate vvas no Prieſt, but a meer Lay-man (on deſigne to make a diſcovering) Oh! The caſe is altered quoth...a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “Shrop-shire”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC...
- And haſt thou trepan'd me into a Tabernacle of the Godly? Is this Pious Boarding-houſe a place for me, thou vvicked Varlet?1677 (date written), John Dryden, The Kind Keeper; or, Mr. Limberham: A Comedy: […], London: […] R[ichard] Bentley, and M[ary] Magnes, […], published 1680, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1
Also used as
trapan is also the alternative spelling of trepan.
Examples of trapan in a sentence
- It is indeed a real Trapan upon it; feeding it vvith Colours, and Appearances, inſtead of Arguments; […]1678 November 19 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1694, Robert South, “Prevention of Sin an Unvaluable Mercy: or, A...
- [H]is [John Narborough's] principal misfortune being the loſing company of a ſmall bark vvhich attended him, and having ſome of his people trapanned at Baldivia.1748, George Anson; Richard Walter, compiler, “Observations and Directions for Facilitating the Passage of Our Future Cruisers Round Cape...
Synonyms of trapan
Forms of trapan
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | trapans |
| alternative form | trepan |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | trapans |
| present participle | trapanning |
| past participle | trapanned |
| past | trapanned |
Origin of trapan
The origin of the noun is uncertain; etymology 1, noun sense 2 (“person that traps or tricks another”), the original sense, was probably thieves’ cant and may be derived from trap (noun or verb). Etymology 1, noun sense 1 (“act of entrapping or tricking; thing which entraps or tricks”) is from the verb. The verb is derived from etymology 1, noun sense 2 of the noun.
See trepan.
Words formed from trapan
- trapanned
- trapanner
- trapanning
- trapanningly
Words that rhyme with trapan
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- clan
- ban
- Cheyenne
- Longshan
- Nanshan
- plan
- an
- gan
- Gushan
- han
- Hongshan
- mann
- nan
- stan
- tan
- unman
- Baoshan
- Dongshan
- flan
- Heshan
- Jinshan
- langshan
- marzipan
- panne
- Qishan
- ran
- rattan
- bantustan
- began
- chan
- Fengshan
- Fran
- Guanshan
- Hengshan
- Huangshan
- Huishan
- japan
- Lausanne
- Lianshan
- Lushan
- Marianne
- Pingshan
- scran
- sedan
- shan
- than
- trepan
- Xi'an
Questions about trapan
- What does trapan mean?
- Trapan means an act of entrapping or tricking; an entrapment; also, a thing which entraps or tricks; a snare or trap; a stratagem or trick.
- How do you use trapan in a sentence?
- It is indeed a real Trapan upon it; feeding it vvith Colours, and Appearances, inſtead of Arguments; […]
- What part of speech is trapan?
- Trapan can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce trapan?
- Trapan is pronounced /tɹəˈpæn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of trapan?
- The plural of trapan is trapans.
Words near trapan in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: trapan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-trapan.wav.
Cite this entry: “trapan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trapan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.