What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Trap vs Spread - What's the difference?

trap | spread |

In transitive terms the difference between trap and spread

is that trap is to provide with a trap while spread is to cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter.

In intransitive terms the difference between trap and spread

is that trap is to leave suddenly, to flee while spread is to take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended.

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 ----

    spread

    English

    Verb

  • To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space.
  • To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions.
  • To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area.
  • To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated.
  • *
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.
  • To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present.
  • To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended.
  • To smear, to distribute in a thin layer.
  • To cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter.
  • To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions.
  • to spread a table
  • * Tennyson
  • Boiled the flesh, and spread the board.
  • (slang) To open one’s legs.
  • * 1984 , (Martin Amis), :
  • This often sounds like the rap of a demented DJ: the way she moves has got to be good news, can't get loose till I feel the juice— suck and spread , bitch, yeah bounce for me baby.
  • * 1991 , (Tori Amos), (Me and a Gun) :
  • Yes I wore a slinky red thing. Does that mean I should spread for you, your friends, your father, Mr Ed?
  • * 2003 , (Outkast), "Spread" (from the album ):
  • I don't want to move too fast, but / Can't resist your sexy ass / Just spread', ' spread for me; / (I can't, I can't wait to get you home)

    Synonyms

    * disseminate * circulate * propagate * put about

    Derived terms

    * spread betting

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of spreading or something that has been spread.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine.
  • An expanse of land.
  • * Addison
  • I have got a fine spread of improvable land.
  • A large tract of land used to raise livestock; a cattle ranch.
  • * 2005 , , 00:11:50:
  • - Can’t wait till I get my own spread and won’t have to put up with Joe Aguirre’s crap no more.
    - I’m savin’ for a place myself.
  • A piece of material used as a cover (such as a bedspread).
  • A large meal, especially one laid out on a table.
  • Any form of food designed to be spread such as butters or jams
  • An item in a newspaper or magazine that occupies more than one column or page.
  • A numerical difference.
  • (business, economics) The difference between the wholesale and retail prices.
  • (trading, economics, finance) The difference between the price of a futures month and the price of another month of the same commodity.
  • (trading, finance) The purchase of a futures contract of one delivery month against the sale of another futures delivery month of the same commodity.
  • (trading, finance) The purchase of one delivery month of one commodity against the sale of that same delivery month of a different commodity.
  • (trading) An arbitrage transaction of the same commodity in two markets, executed to take advantage of a profit from price discrepancies.
  • (trading) The difference between bidding and asking price.
  • (finance) The difference between the prices of two similar items.
  • (geometry) An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.
  • Synonyms

    * straddle

    Statistics

    *