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Undertow vs Trap - What's the difference?

undertow | trap |

As nouns the difference between undertow and trap

is that undertow is a short-range flow of water returning seaward from the waves breaking on the shore while trap is stair, step.

As a verb undertow

is to pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.

undertow

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.
  • * 1914 , Denton Jaques Snider, Lincoln at Richmond :
  • Off in a gallop the General wheeled vanishing, And sped his steed away into the blue, When Lineoln now alone let go his speech Which had before been undertowed by force, [...]
  • To pull down by, or as by, an undertow.
  • * 1998 , Richard Gough, David Williams, Ric Allsopp, Performance Research: On Place :
  • A sense that the air, a sighting of muddy river, or that outcrop of rock so implacably bland in the light of midday, is undertowed by memory.
  • * 2003 , Michael T. Leibig, Mike Leibig Traveling in Disguise :
  • I sink because I cannot swim, undertowed to the Centre, abandoning all remembrance of the surface toward the cloud of unknowing, without choice I'm pulled.
  • To flow or behave as an undertow.
  • * 1917 , The Unpopular review:
  • Everybody knows this and acts accordingly; but when you say it, it sounds bad and bold, and makes you uncomfortable to hear it, because the puritan blood is still undertowing in your veins.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A short-range flow of water returning seaward from the waves breaking on the shore.
  • A strong undertow may sweep a returning swimmer off their feet but it does not carry them far from the shore.
  • (by extension) A feeling that runs contrary to one's normal one.
  • See also

    * rip current

    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
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  • 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 ----