Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. trickery, fraud; usu. as understand trap ; up to trap

1681		implied in understand trap
1740		R. North Examen 549: Some cunning Persons, that had found out his Foible, and Ignorance of Trap, first put him in great Fright.

2. one who blackmails a prostitute’s client.

1718		C. Hitchin Regulator 21: Martin’s Brandy shop [...] is used by the Traps Buttocks and Files, the Man himself goes on the Trap.
1719		A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926).
1753		Thief-Catcher 22: There is another Set of Rogues, in and about London, known and distinguished by the Name of Trapps.
1768		(con. 1710–25) Tyburn Chronicle II in Groom (1999) xxviii: A Trap He that after a Buttock and file, has bit a Cull of his Pocket-Book, makes it his Business to find out where the Man lives, and extort Money from him to prevent his being exposed.
1821		‘An Amateur’ Real Life in London I 45: He found himself considerably in debt, and was compelled to seek refuge in an obscure lodging, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Kilburn, in order to avoid the traps.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict. 5: Beau traps – genteel dressed sharpers, fortune hunters.

3. (also trapsman) usu. in pl., a policeman or similar agent of the law [metonymy].

1705–07		N. Ward Hudibras Redivivus I:4 8: All girt with Chaps, men, Boys and Women, / Traps, Divers, Punks, and Serjeants, Yeomen.
1781		G. Parker View of Society II 148: It is very common to hear them say, that the Traps are after Such-a-one.
1791		‘Mount’s Flash Song Upon Himself’ in Confessions of Thomas Mount 22: I was surrounded by the traps, / And to the quod they did me steer.
c.1800		‘The Blue Lion’ in Holloway & Black I (1975) 32: Into his room the Traps they come.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1819		‘One of the Fancy’ Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress xxvi: As a means of eluding the vigilance of a certain class of persons, called flashice, Traps, or in common language, Bow-street-Officers.
1821		‘An Amateur’ Real Life in London I 550: Why, the traps have nibbled him. He is arrested, and gone to a lock-up shop, a place of mere accommodation for gentlemen to take up their abode.
1833		‘The Slap-Up Cracksman’ Swell!!! or, Slap-Up Chaunter 42: The traps are snoozed – so we can swig / Without fear of touch or pig.
1835		‘Cock-Eyed Sukey’ in Cove in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) IV 219: Tho’ trapsmen roar, yet free from harms, / William shall sneak home to his punk.
1842		Colonial Times (Hobart) 26 Apr. 3/2: [T]he prisoner said he did not know what they (the traps) wanted him fo.
1845		J. Lindridge Sixteen-String Jack 107: Are we to have the blessed traps on our heels before we start?
1845		Bell’s Life in Sydney 1 Feb 3/3: Mary [...] transferred her anger on the instant to the ‘trap,’ on whose countenance she planted her ‘bunch of fives’.
1858		A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 252: I know every d—d ‘trap’ — that’s a constable — in the place.
1869		J. Greenwood Seven Curses of London 86: They can discover the detective in his innocent-looking smock-frock or bricklayer jacket. [...] They know him by his step, or by his clumsy affectation of unofficial loutishness. They recognise the stiff neck in the loose neckerchief. They smell ‘trap,’ and are superior to it.
1873		W.H. Thomes Bushrangers 21: The bushrangers can kill and rob, and nothing is done towards rooting them out. They don’t care for us ‘traps,’ and laugh if we talk of hunting them.
1885		J.S. Borlase Blue Cap, the Bushranger 4/2: I’ll steer him clear of trap, judge and Jack Ketch, too.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 2: .Our ‘bush telegraphs’ were safe to let us know when the ‘traps’ were closing in on us.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 23 Aug. 19/2: For my pockets now were empty, so ’twas entered on the sheet / By the trap who found me lying in a stupor on his beat.
1901		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ In Bad Company 250: D--n you and the pleece too! A pore man gets no show between the traps and squatters in this bloomin’ country.
1910		N.Z. Truth 22 jan. 7/1: Trap Roach told his version first [...] The trap looked through the window and saw Mackay and McIndoe bending over something.
1911		L. Stone Jonah 32: The police, variously named ‘Johns, cops, and traps’ were the natural enemies.
1927		(con. 1835–40) P. Herring Bold Bendigo 109: We don’t want any of the traps in here.
1936		‘Banjo’ Paterson Shearer’s Colt 27: If she thinks that you and me are just a shearer and a trap [policeman] she’ll tell us to come into the kitchen for our grub.
1945		Baker Aus. Lang. 95: It was a natural development that police troopers should come to be called joes [...] although this use is not found often, demons and traps (1853) being more widely used.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 94: Then the traps came along and got stuck into us with their batons.
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 42: How’d you slip that trap?
1986		G.A. Wilkes Exploring Aus. Eng. 13: One enterprising convict, James Hardy Vaux, put together a vocabulary of the criminal slang of the colony – the ‘flash’ language – in 1812. His list includes [...] shake in the sense of ‘steal’, lag for a convict and trap for policeman.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Trap. 2. A policeman, especially a mounted policeman.
2000		R.G. Barrett Leaving Bondi (2013) [ebook] ‘Everybody around the traps is going to know who it is’.

4. attrib. use of sense 3.

1908

Bulletin (Sydney) 30 July 14/2: Late that night Ratto Parker chucked me th’ w’isper that th’ fancy was up at the trap-stronghold, sighin’ f’r ’er ’ero t’ bump along with a five-quid bail ’n’ freedim.

5. the mouth; esp. in phrs. keep one’s trap shut , shut one’s trap [it is a ‘trap’ for food, often used in combs., e.g. bread trap under bread n.¹ , meat trap under meat n.].

1776		implied in shut one’s trap
1873		J. O’Connor Wanderings of a Vagabond 295: Don’t let me hear any more wind from that trap o’ yourn, or I’ll bust it.
1879		H. Hartigan Stray Leaves (2nd ser.) 138: As for potatoes [...] They disappeared down his trap as fast almost as they could be counted.
1889		Times-Democrat (New Orleans, LA) 9 July 3/6: Prize Ring Slang [...] ‘kisser,’ ‘grubber,’ ‘trap,’ ‘whistler,’ ‘ivory-box,’ the mouth.
1900		Marvel 15 May 15: One of the sailors [...] after a few minutes’ rubbing managed to loosen their talking-traps.
1917		F. Packard Adventures of Jimmie Dale (1918) I ii: You two ginks open your traps, and I’ll run you both in!
1929		S. Ornitz Haunch Paunch and Jowl 261: Don’t open your trap till they have talked themselves out.
1930		J. Lait Put on the Spot 18: If you open that kissy trap o’ your’n, I’ll run you into the lake.
1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 66 : You better clamp that trap of yours tight!
1934		R.L. Bellem ‘Sleeping Dogs’ in Spicy Detective Sept. 🌐 She was afraid I’d open my trap and spill my guts about the blackmail stuff.
1939		H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn (1964) 35: Still he didn’t know enough to hold his trap.
1941		‘The Heavy Bombers’ in C.H. Ward-Jackson Airman’s Song Book (1945) 144: They ask you for your flimsies, your pass and target maps, / You take the ruddy issue and stuff it down their traps.
1943		W. Guthrie Bound for Glory (1969) 84: Hush your trap!
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 301: He lies every time he opens his trap.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 225: You keep that trap of yours going and you’re going to be in real hot water.
1965		W. Dick Bunch of Ratbags 236: I could have killed him for saying that. He always opened his trap at the wrong time.
1973		G.V. Higgins Digger’s Game (1981) 45: Now you got that trap of yours working every minute.
1975		Sun. Times Mag. 12 Oct. 82: The best thing I’ve learnt is not to open my trap about things I know nothing about.
2004		Mad mag. Jan. 40: The controversial right-wing yakker opened up his big fat trap.
2016		Stormzy ‘Scary’ 🎵 Should’ve thought twice before you opened your trap.

6. (US) a brothel.

1857

Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 11 Apr. n.p.: Nancy, you had better close up that low trap, or the police will pay you a visit.

7. (UK milit.) a guard-room.

1896

‘Army Slang’ in Regiment 11 Apr. 31/1: The guard-room (prisoners’ room) is [...] the ‘net,’ ‘trap,’ ‘clink,’ ‘dust-hole,’ ‘cage,’ ‘digger,’ ‘dog’s-home, ’ ‘marble-arch’.

8. the vagina.

c.1900		‘Ramrod’ Nocturnal Meeting 75: Her splendid trap continued opening and shutting after my cock was withdrawn.
1970		‘Troy Conway’ Cunning Linguist (1973) 131: Her trap remained ungreased, unopened all the way and - unhappy.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 64: I pushed her down on her back and slid into her trap.

9. a place, a house or apartment.

1923		H.C. Witwer Fighting Blood 240: Rags and his dizzy pals used to hang out in this trap.
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 22: [of a hotel] Marie is strictly the boss of the trap.
1959		W. Burroughs Naked Lunch (1968) 140: [of a flat] We go up to her trap.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 89: I walked with him through the door of the craps trap.
1982		(con. 1970) J.M. Del Vecchio 13th Valley (1983) 241: ‘This is a filthy trap.’ [...] There wasn’t even a shower in the bath.
1985		B. Humphries Traveller’s Tool 19: All I can say is that I’ve knocked around the traps.

10. (US tramp) a hiding-place for liquor or other illegal goods.

1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 191: Trap. – A place of concealment for liquor or other contraband, especially in the body of an automobile or truck or in the hull of a boat.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 822: trap – A place of concealment.

11. (US) a nightclub.

1938		A.J. Liebling ‘The Jollity Building’ in Just Enough Liebling (2004) 248: I booked a man with a trained dog into one trap in Astoria.
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 78: She takes to visiting this same Canary Club and similar traps.
1955		B. Schulberg On the Waterfront (1964) 60: He could spread money on the bar in a dozen traps and be a big man among cronies and freeloaders.
1969		L. Schecter Jocks 256: [A] suburban trap in Mt. Vernon called the Studio Club.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 105: An older white couple [...] coming out of that dago trap called Mamma Leone’s.
2015		Chief Keef ‘Cappin’ 🎵 Trap house bumpin’ like he dancin' with Kemo.

12. (US black) the military draft during WWII.

1944

‘Jiver’s Bible’ in D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive.

13. (drugs) a hiding place for contraband, e.g. drugs, guns.

1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970).
1978		R. Daley Prince of the City 302: ‘I had a trap. That was built into my house in Kings Park to put my guns in, Counselor [...] and there was also money in there, but it was a very tiny little trap.’.
1999		J. Maple Crime Fighter 159: [C]ops should also be trained to spot traps inside the cars—behind the dashboard vents, under the accelerator pedal [...] where guns or drugs are often hidden.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 21: Trap — Hiding place for drugs.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] La caja—the trap—a large hole carved into the wall, is open. Stacked, floor to ceiling, with bricks of heroin.

14. a cubicle or stall in a public lavatory.

1970		J. Wambaugh New Centurions 197: [W]e sit in the trap, as we call it, and peek through into the restroom. [...] Sometimes we [...] let one guy sit in the trap with a radio and if he sees some fruit action in the john, he whispers to us over the radio and in we come.
1975		J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 232: You’re in the trap, peeking through the screen and some dude walks in the john.
2004		B. Parris Making of a Legionnaire 23: I found the showers, found where to pee, but where were the traps? Where could I have a dump?

15. (US black) the number of customers a prostitute is assigned as a daily tally by her pimp to reach a financial target; thus the many she earns each night[i.e. those whom she SE traps].

1973		D. Goines Street Players 33: She’ll end up bullshitting the rest of the night because she’ll think she done made enough for her night’s trap.
1981		A.K. Shulman On the Stroll 110: For the first time in the week since she’d been hooking she hadn’t made her trap.
2006		Ice-T ‘Pimp or Die’ 🎵 Smack the fucking hoe unconscious if my trap ain’t fat.

16. (Aus. prison) the spyhole or ‘Judas hole’ in a cell door.

1984

B. Ellem Doing Time app. C 243: Of a night you can hear the screws walking up and down and then a trap will open and you will hear them talking to a prisoner.

17. (US black) money.

1992		Kool G Rap & DJ Polo ‘Live & Let Die’ 🎵 I waits to start packin the trap back in the suitcase.
2000		Busta Rhymes ‘Street Shit’ 🎵 Ain’t no mistakin, we takin your trap.
2009		Raekwon ‘Cold Outside’ 🎵 Heads get clapped for trap, don’t fuck with my mind, I’m strapped.
2012		J. Robinson Gospel of the Game 21: Two muscular blonde detectives [...] greedily counted a young renegade whore’s trap.

18. (UK/US black / drugs) a place where drugs are processed and dealt; also the local neighbourhood.

1995		Goodie Mob ‘Thought Process’ 🎵 Folks that hang with me when I was out in the trap.
2005		J. Buskey Tinged Valor 32: Friday nights were the times that the perps (or Dope Boys, as we called them) made the majority of their sales and their traps (selling locations) were most busy.
2006		C-Note ‘Still Push’n’ 🎵 All night in the trap, whipping bricks and bagging packs.
2012		T.I. ‘Check This Dig That’ 🎵 Stackin pape when I rap, shit get flipped, and I’m back to the trap.
2015		67 ‘Live Corn’ 🎵 674’s tryna get rich in those traps.
2018-20		T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Trap - neighbourhood, ‘ghetto’.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 282: Man’s in the trap day and night.

19. see wolf-trap under wolf n.