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Trap vs Attack - What's the difference?

trap | attack |

As nouns the difference between trap and attack

is that trap is stair, step while attack is an attempt to cause damage or injury to, or to somehow detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.

As a verb attack is

to apply violent force to someone or something.

trap

English

(wikipedia trap)

Etymology 1

(etyl) (m), from (etyl) and possibly Albanian (m) "raft, channel, path". Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". (etyl) are ultimately borrowings from (etyl).

Noun

(en noun)
  • A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body.
  • I put down some traps in my apartment to try and deal with the mouse problem.
  • A trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense; a snare.
  • Unfortunately she fell into the trap of confusing biology with destiny.
  • * Shakespeare
  • God and your majesty / Protect mine innocence, or I fall into / The trap is laid for me!
  • A covering over a hole or opening; a trapdoor.
  • Close the trap , would you, before someone falls and breaks their neck.
  • A wooden instrument shaped somewhat like a shoe, used in the game of trapball; the game of trapball itself.
  • Any device used to hold and suddenly release an object.
  • They shot out of the school gates like greyhounds out of the trap .
  • A bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe arranged so that the liquid contents form a seal which prevents the escape of noxious gases, but permits the flow of liquids.
  • A place in a water pipe, pump, etc., where air accumulates for want of an outlet.
  • (historical) A light two-wheeled carriage with springs.
  • * 1913 , D.H. Lawrence,
  • The two women looked down the alley. At the end of the Bottoms a man stood in a sort of old-fashioned trap , bending over bundles of cream-coloured stuff; while a cluster of women held up their arms to him, some with bundles.
  • * 1919 ,
  • I had told them they could have my trap to take them as far as the road went, because after that they had a long walk.
  • *
  • At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones's trap , came mincing daintily in, chewing at a lump of sugar.
  • (slang) A person's mouth.
  • Keep your trap shut .
  • (in the plural) belongings
  • * 1870 , , Running for Governor ,
  • ...his cabin-mates in Montana losing small valuables from time to time, until at last, these things having been invariably found on Mr. Twain's person or in his "trunk" (newspaper he rolled his traps in)...
  • (slang) cubicle (in a public toilet)
  • I've just laid a cable in trap 2 so I'd give it 5 minutes if I were you.
  • (sports) Short for trapshooting.
  • (computing) An exception generated by the processor or by an external event.
  • (Australia, slang, historical) A mining license inspector during the Australian gold rush.
  • * 1996 , Judith Kapferer, Being All Equal: Identity, Difference and Australian Cultural Practice , page 84,
  • The miners? grievances centred on the issue of the compulsory purchase of miners? licences and the harassment of raids by the licensing police, the ‘traps ,’ in search of unlicensed miners.
  • * 2006 , Helen Calvert, Jenny Herbst, Ross Smith, Australia and the World: Thinking Historically , page 55,
  • Diggers were angered by frequent licence inspections and harassment by ‘the traps ’ (the goldfield police).
  • (US, slang, informal, African American Vernacular English) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.
  • (slang, informal, pejorative) A person with male genitalia who can be mistaken for a female; a convincing transvestite or transwoman.
  • * '>citation
  • * '>citation
  • * '>citation
  • A kind of movable stepladder.
  • (Knight)
    Synonyms
    * snare
    Derived terms
    * activity trap * beartrap/bear trap * betrap * booby trap * bus trap * firetrap * fish-trap * honey trap * mantrap * mousetrap * offside trap * optical trap * radar trap * rattletrap * speed trap * tourist trap * trapdoor * (l)

    Verb

    (trapp)
  • To physically , to catch in a trap or traps, or something like a trap.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Stephen P. Lownie], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/david-m-pelz David M. Pelz
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Stents to Prevent Stroke , passage=As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.}}
  • To ensnare; to take by stratagem; to entrap.
  • * Dryden
  • I trapped the foe.
  • To provide with a trap.
  • To set traps for game; to make a business of trapping game; as, to trap for beaver.
  • To leave suddenly, to flee.
  • (US, slang, informal, African American Vernacular English) (slang) To sell narcotics, especially in a public area.
  • (computing) To capture (e.g. an error) in order to handle or process it.
  • Etymology 2

    (Trap rock) From (etyl) trapp, from .

    Noun

    (-)
  • A dark coloured igneous rock, now used to designate any non-volcanic, non-granitic igneous rock; trap rock.
  • Derived terms
    * trappean * trappous * trappy

    Etymology 3

    Akin to (etyl) .

    Verb

    (trapp)
  • To dress with ornaments; to adorn; said especially of horses.
  • * Spenser
  • to deck his hearse, and trap his tomb-black steed
  • * Tennyson
  • There she found her palfrey trapped / In purple blazoned with armorial gold.

    Etymology 4

    Shortening.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang, bodybuilding) trapezius (muscle)
  • Anagrams

    * part * prat * rapt * tarp ----

    attack

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An attempt to cause damage or injury to, or to somehow detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
  • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=4 citation , passage=“I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I??? Why didn’t I telephone??? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack , and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. …”}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Mark Tran
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=1, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Denied an education by war , passage=One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks' on schools
  • A time in which one attacks. The offence of a battle.
  • (cricket) Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
  • (volleyball) Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.
  • (lacrosse) The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
  • The sudden onset of a disease.
  • An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
  • (music) The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
  • (audio) The amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).
  • Synonyms

    * (volleyball) hit, spike * See also

    Antonyms

    * (music) decay, release

    Derived terms

    * attack is the best form of defence * pincer attack

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To apply violent force to someone or something.
  • This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.
  • To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar ).
  • She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012
  • , date=June 3 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992) citation , page= , passage=In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.}}
  • To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
  • * Macaulay
  • On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.
  • * B. Stewart
  • Hydrofluoric acid attacks the glass.
  • To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
  • We´ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.
    I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.
  • (cricket) To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
  • (cricket) To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
  • (cricket) To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
  • (soccer) To move forward in an attempt to actively score point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=October 15 , author=Michael Da Silva , title=Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Six successive defeats had left them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table but, clearly under instructions to attack from the outset, Bolton started far the brighter.}}

    Synonyms

    * See also