trape meaning (obsolete): definition, etymology and quotations

trape

noun

CA, US, UK /tɹeɪ̯p/ · AU, NZ /tɹæɪ̯p/

Etymology Perhaps via Medieval Latin *trappa, from Old English træppe /treppe (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *trap-, from Proto-Indo-European *dreb-, from *der- (“to walk, step”).

Obsolete A messy or untidy woman.

Hard was his fate in this I own, ¶ Nor will I for the trapes atone; ¶ Indeed to guess I am not able, ¶ What made her thus inexorable[…]1678, Samuel Butler, Hudibras:

trape

verb

Etymology Perhaps via Medieval Latin *trappa, from Old English træppe /treppe (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *trap-, from Proto-Indo-European *dreb-, from *der- (“to walk, step”).

To drag.

No, that coat's too big; it'll trape along the ground if you wear it.
"I expect that's right," Frest admitted. "You going to drop right down—or be you hunting and traping along? You'n Delia?"1920, Raymond S. Spears, chapter 6, in Diamond Tolls:

To run about idly or like a slattern.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.