booby trap

See also: boobytrap and booby-trap

English

Etymology

From booby (“dunce, idiot”).

Noun

booby trap (plural booby traps)

  1. (military) An antipersonnel device deliberately hidden or disguised as a harmless object.
  2. A practical joke by which something is made to fall upon someone entering through a door, or the like.
  3. (by extension) An unforeseen source of danger; a pitfall.

Translations
an unforeseen source of danger; a pitfall — see pitfall,‎ trap

See also

References
  • (practical joke): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary
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