. Trapa bispinosa ; a, a flower, 
fruit of 7". bicomis. 
trap 
trap 4 (trap), ?. /. ; pret. and pp. trapped, ppr. 
trapping. [< ME. trttppi'ii, < OF. "trapper, < ML. 
"trappare, < trappus, cloth, horse-cloth: see 
trap*, n. Hence trapper".'] To furnish with 
trapping or ornamental housing, or necessary 
or usual harness or appurtenances, especially 
when these are of an ornamental character. 
Duk Theseus leet forth three stedes bringe, 
That trapped were in steel al glitteringe. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 2032. 
But leave these relicksof his living might 
To deck his herce, and trap his tomb-blacke steed. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. viii. 16. 
Trap our shaggy thighs with bells. 
B. Jonson, .Masque of Oberon. 
Their horses trapped in blue, with white crosses pow- 
dered on their hangings. Froude, Sketches, p. 175. 
Trapa (tra'pS), . [NL. (Linnteus, 1737), so 
called with ref. to the four spines of some 
species; abbr. of ML. calcitrapa, a caltrop: see 
caltrop.] A genus of polypetalous plants, of 
the order Onagrariese. It is characterized by an 
ovary with two cells, each with an elongated ovule pen- 
dulous from the 
partition; and by 
a nut-like spi- 
nescent fruit. 
There are 3, or 
as some esteem 
them only 2 (or 
even 1), species, 
natives of tropical 
and subtropical 
parts of the Old 
World, and ex- 
tending to central 
Europe. They are 
aquatic plants 
with dimorphous 
leaves, one kind 
submerged, oppo- 
site, dissected, and 
2. Win K ed root-like, the other 
a rosette of tooth- 
ed rhombic leaves 
with inflated spongy petioles, floating on the surface. 
They bear axillary solitary whitish flowers with the parts 
in fours. The species are known as water-caltrop from 
the horns or spines of the singular fruit, which con- 
tains a single large seed with a sweet and edible em- 
bryo which abounds in starch and is composed of two 
unequal cotyledons and a radicle which perforates the 
apex of the fruit in germinating. T. natans, the best- 
known species, native from central Africa to Germany 
and central Asia, often cultivated elsewhere, and now 
naturalized in Massachusetts in the Concord river, is 
known as water-chestnut or water-nut, sometimes as Jesu- 
its' nut. Its seeds are ground and made into bread in 
parts of the south of Europe. T. bieornis of China, there 
known as ling or leng, is cultivated in ponds by the 
Chinese for its fruit, which resembles a bullock's head 
with two blunt horns. T. bispinosa yields the Singhara- 
nut of Cashmere, where it forms a staple food, 
trapan (tra-pan'), n. [Also, less prop., trepan ; 
< OF. trappan, * trapan, a snare, trap, trapant, 
trapen, a trap-door; perhaps < "trappant, ppr. 
of * trapper, trap: see trap 1 , v.~\ 1. A snare; 
trap. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Nothing but gins and snares and trapans for souls. 
South, Sermons, III. iv. 
2. Same as trapanner. 
He had been from the beginning a spy and a trepan. 
Maeaulay. 
trapan (tra-pan'), v. t.; pret. and pp. trapanned, 
ppr. trapanning. [Also, less prop., trepan; < 
trapan, .] To insnare; catch by stratagem. 
[Obsolete or archaic.] 
My steed 's trapan' A, my bridle 's broken. 
Fire of Frendraught (Child's Ballads, VI. 179). 
Lest I might be trapan d and sold as a Servant after my 
arrival in Jamaica. Dampier, Voyages, II. ii. 4. 
'Tis strange, a fellow of his wit to be trepan'd into a 
marriage. Steele, Lying Lover, ii. 1. 
Cease your Funning ; 
Force or Cunning 
Never shall my Heart trepan. 
Qay, Beggar's Opera, air xxxvii. 
trapanner (tra-pan'er), . [Also, less prop., 
trepanner; < trapan + -!.] One who tra- 
pans or insnares. 
The insinuations of that old pander and trapanner of 
so " ls - South, Sermons, VI. x. 
trap-ball (trap'bal), n. 1 . An old game played 
by two or more persons with a ball, bat, and 
trap (see iVapl, ., 5). By striking the end of the 
pivoted trap with the bat, the ball is driven some dis- 
tance. The side or players out retire the striker by catch- 
ing the batted ball on the fly or by bowling it to the trap 
from the place where it falls. 
He that of feeble nerves and joints complains 
From nine-pins, coits, and from trap-ball abstains. 
W. King, Art of Cookery, 1. 478. 
Trap-ball ... is anterior to cricket, and probably co- 
eval with most of the early games played with the bat and 
ball ; we trace it as far back as the commencement of the 
fourteenth century. Stnttt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 176. 
2. The ball used in the game of trap-ball. 
He went in and out of Hawk's Gully like a trapball 
and was in Springfield "in less than no time." 
A. B. Longstreet, Georgia Scenes, p. 116. 
6442 
A bat used in the game 
A bat used in trap- 
See Iril- 
trap-bat (trap'bat), w. 
of trap-ball. 
trap-bittle (trap'bif'l), n. 
ball. [Prov. Eng.] 
trap-brilliant (trap'bril'yant), v. 
liant. 
trap-cellar (trap'seF'ar), n. In a theater, the 
space immediately under the stage. 
trap-cut (trap'kut), n. See cut. 
trap-door (trap'dor'), n. [< ME. trappe-dore; < 
trap 1 + door.'] A door in a floor or roof which 
when shut is flush, or nearly so, with what sur- 
rounds it. 
" Here at this secre trappe-dore," quod he. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 759. 
Here is the Trap-door, the mouth of the rich mine, which 
We'l make bold to open. Brome, Queens Exchange, v. 
Trap-door spider, one of several different spiders of 
large size, mostly of the genus Ctmiza, whose nest is a 
tube with hinged lid 
which opens and shuts 
like a trap-door. Dif- 
ferent spiders of this 
type construct their 
holes variously in size 
and shape, and with 
variable proportions 
of mud and cobweb, 
but the principle is the 
same with all. The 
trap-door arrange- 
ment is for their own 
hiding and security, 
not for the capture of Te * an Tra P- d o r Spider (Packyiomt- 
their prey. /w>. 
trape 1 (trap), v. .; pret. and pp. traped, ppr. 
trapitig. [Cf. D. MLG. G. trappen, tread, tramp : 
see trapi, trap?, tramp. Of. also trope*.] 1. To 
trail along in an untidy manner; walk care- 
lessly and sluttighly ; run about idly ; trapes. 
I am to go traping with Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt to 
see sights all this day. Swift. 
2. To trail on the ground. HalUwtU. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
trape 2 (trap), . JCt.Jnyl.^ A pan, platter, 
Ht 
or "dish. Halliwell. [Prov. Eug.] 
Trapelus (trap'e-lus), . [NL. (Cuvier), < Gr. 
Ty><z7rc/tof, easily turned, < rpeireiv, turn: see 
trope.'] A genus of agamoid lizards, with the 
scales small and destitute of spines. They have 
no pores on the thighs. T. agyptius is of small size, can 
puff out its body, and is remarkable for its changes of color. 
trapes (traps), v. i. [Also traipse; an extension 
of trape^, or from the noun trapes.] To gad or 
flaunt about idly. 
The daughter, a tall, trapesing, trolloping, talkative may- 
pole. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, i. 2. 
How am I to go trapesing to Kensington In my yellow 
satin sack before all the flue company? 
Thackeray, Henry Esmond, ii. 15. 
trapes (traps), . [Also traipse : see trapes, r.~\ 
1. A slattern; an idle, sluttish woman ; a jade. 
From door to door I'd sooner whine and beg . . . 
Than marry such a trapes. 
Gay, What d'ye call it? i. 1. 
2. A going about; a tramp. 
It's such a toil and a trapes up them two pair of stairs. 
Mrt. Henry Wood, The Channings, lix. 
trapezate (trap'e-zat), . [< trapezium + -/!.] 
Trapeziform. 
trapeze (tra-peV), n. [< F. -trapeze = Sp. trape- 
cio = Pg. trapezia, < L. trapezium, < Gr. Tpave(,i- 
ov, & trapezium : see trapezium.'] 1. A trapezi- 
um. 2. In gymnastics, a swing consisting of 
one or more cross-bars, each suspended by two 
cords at some distance from the ground, on 
which various exercises or feats of strength and 
agility are performed. 
trapezia, . Latin plural of trapezium. 
trapezia! (tra-pe'zial), a. [< trapezius + -al."] 
In anat., pertaining to the trapezius : as, trape- 
sial fibers or action. 
trapezian (tra-pe'zian), a. [< trapezium + -an.'] 
In crystal., having tne lateral planes composed 
of trapeziums situated in two ranges between 
two bases. 
trapeziform (tra-pe'zi-form), a. [= F. trapt- 
ziforme, < L. trapezium, trapezium, + forma, 
form.] 1. Having the shape of a trapezium. 
2. In ro67., trapezoidal. [A rare and incorrect 
use.] 
The nientum is trapeziform. Waterhouse. 
Trapeziform map-projection. See projection. 
trapezihedron (tra-pe-zi-he'dron), it. Same as 
trapezohedron . 
trapezii, . Plural of trapezius. 
trapezium (tra-pe'zi-um), n. ; pi. trapezia, tra- 
peziums (-a, -umz). [< L. trapezium, < Gr. rpa- 
irtfrov, a table or counter, a trapezium (so called 
as being four-sided like such a table), dim. of 
a, a table (so called as having four feet 
trapezoidiform 
or legs), < re-pa-, four, reduced to -pa-, + Troif 
(iro6-) = E. foot. Cf. tripod,] 1. In geom., a 
plane figure contained by four 
straight lines of which no two are 
parallel. 
In like manner, a trapezium (irpcure^iov) 
originally signifies a table, and thus Trapezium, 
might denote any form ; but as the tables 
of the Greeks had one side shorter than the opposite one, 
such a figure was at first called a trapezium. Afterwards 
the term was made to signify any figure with four unequal 
sides, a name being more needful in geometry for this 
kind of figure than for the original form. 
Whewell, Philos. of Inductive Sciences, I., p. 1. 
2. In annl. : (a) A cross-band of fibers near the 
lower border of the pons Varolii, passing from 
the region of the accessory auditory nucleus to 
the raphe. They may come, in part, down from the cere- 
bellum or up from the restiform body, as well as from the 
region mentioned, and seem to terminate in the superior 
olive of the same side, or in the superior olive, the lemnis- 
cus, and accessory auditory nucleus of the opposite side. 
A group of large-sized ganglion-cells among the fibers is 
called the nucleus trapezii. Also called corpus trapezoi- 
des- (fe) The bone on the radial side of the distal 
row of carpal bones, articulating with the ineta- 
carpal bone of the thumb ; carpale I. of the typ- 
ical carpus, whatever its actual shape. Also 
called muttanr/ulum majus. See cuts under Pe- 
rissodarti/la, sctipl/olitnar, and hand. Nucleus 
trapezii. See def . 2 (a). - Oblique ridge of the trape- 
zium. See oblique. 
trapezius (tra-pe'zi-us), . ; pi. trapezii (-i). 
[NL. (sc. in iiscidus), < L. trapezium, q. v.] A large 
superficial muscle of the back of the neck and 
adjacent parts. It arises from the external occipital 
protuberance, the inner third of the superior curved line 
of the occipital bone, the ligamentum nuchre and the 
spines of the last cervical and of all the thoracic vertebrae, 
and is inserted into the outer third of the clavicle and the 
acromion and spine of the scapula.* Each trapezius is tri- 
angular, and with its fellow of the opposite side forms a 
somewhat diamond-shaped figure, little like the trapezium 
of geometry. Also called cucullarig and cowl-muscle or 
shawl-muscle. See cut under muxclei. 
trapezohedral (tra-pe-zo-he'dral), a. [< trape- 
zoliedr(on) + -al.] In crystal., pertaining to or 
having the form of a trapezohedron Trapezo- 
hedral hemihedrism, tetartohedrism. See the nouns. 
trapezohedron (tra-pe-zo-he'drpn), n. [NL., < 
Gr. TpdireCa, a table, a trapezium base, 4- tfSpa, 
a seat, side.] 1. In crystal., a solid belonging 
to the isometric system, 
bounded by twenty-four 
equal and similar trapezoi- 
dal planes; a tetragonal 
trisoctahedron. 2. Any 
solid having trapezoidal 
faces, as the trigonal tra- 
pezohedron of a quartz 
crystal. See tetartolte- 
drinm. 
Also trapezihedron. 
trapezoid (tra-pe'zoid), a. and n. [= F. trape- 
zoitle = Sp. trapezoide (NL. trapezoides, as a 
noun also trapezoideum), < Gr. ToaTrefoc-dfo, < 
T/ia7rEfa, table, + cloof, form.] I. a. Having 
the shape of a trapezoid. See II., 1. 
Segments much compressed, trapezoid. 
H. C. Wood, Fresh- Water Alga?, p. 158. 
Trapezoid bone. See II., 2. Trapezoid ligament. 
See ligament. Trapezoid line. See Iine2. 
II. ii. 1. In geom., a plane four-sided figure 
having two of its opposite sides 
parallel, and the other two not 
so. 2. In anat. and zool., the 
trapezoid bone, one of the bones 
of the wrist, so called from its 
xh;ipe; the second one of the 
Tetragonal Trisoctahednjn, 
or Trapezohedron. 
Trapezoid, 
distal row of carpal bones, on the radial or 
thumb side, between the trapezium and the 
magnum, in special relation with the head of 
the second metacarpal bone; carpale II. of 
the typical carpus. Also called mulliiiii/iiliini 
minus, and trapezoides, trapezoideum. See cuts 
under Artiodactyla, pisiform, hand, and scapiio- 
Junar. 
trapezoidal (trap-e-zoi'dal), a. [< trapezoid + 
-al.] 1. Having the form of a trapezoid: as, 
the trapezoidal bone or ligament (in anatomy). 
The form of each vaulting compartment of an apsidal 
aisle is, of course, trapezoidal. 
C. H. Ifoore, Gothic Architecture, p. 100. 
2. In crystal., having the surface composed of 
twenty-four trapeziums, all equal and similar. 
Trapezoidal wall. See traKi. 
trapezoides, trapezoideum (trap-e-zoi'dez, 
-de-urn), n. [NL. : see trapezoid.] In anat., 
same as trapezoid. 
trapezoidiform (trap-e-zoi'di-form), a. [< NL. 
tni/Hzoides, trapezoid,' + L. forma, form.] In 
i-ii tout., noting an extended body, as a joint of 
