mousetrap
/ˈmaʊsˌtɹæp/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.32 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A website designed to open another copy of itself when the user tries to close the webpage.
Countable
noun
A slice of bread or toast topped with cheese and then grilled or microwaved.
New Zealand usage; Countable; Uncountable
noun
An antisubmarine rocket used mainly during World War II by the US Navy and US Coast Guard.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Besides depth charges, they were armed with smaller forward firing antisubmarine rocket launchers called mousetraps. Fired in groups, these rockets detonated when they contacted a submarine."
- "He hoped to bring the rebels out of their trenches for a showdown battle somewhere south of the Wilderness, that gloomy expanse of scrub oaks and pines where Lee had mousetrapped Joe Hooker exactly a year earlier."
- "The scammer is paid for each new visitor directed to his site. There is nothing wrong except that the user finds it impossible to leave the site because he is mousetrapped."
Etymology
From Middle English mouse-trappe, mous trappe, mouse trape, equivalent to mouse + trap. Cognate with Dutch muizetrap, muizentrap (“mousetrap”), German Low German Muustrappe, Muustrapp (“mousetrap”). In the Internet sense, refers to a computer mouse.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: mouse-trappe