death trap

noun

: a structure or situation that is potentially very dangerous to life

Examples of death trap in a Sentence

That old elevator is a death trap. The factory was a death trap with too few exits for the workers to use in case of a fire.
Recent Examples on the Web Toward the end of the film, the club transforms into a death trap, with the director staging scenes that revel in the process of defeating enemies. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Mar. 2024 Baldy’s accessibility, coupled with the catch-all crowds, has earned it the reputation of a death trap. Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2024 Mary McNamara: In Malibu, the myth of the open road creates a bloody reality: PCH is a death trap. Helen Li, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023 Eager to let their hair down following a year in which the annual festivities were squelched by Covid, the crowd, made up mostly of people in their 20s, instead walked into a death trap. Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2023 With exits to Israel and Egypt shut and food, drinkable water, medicine and fuel running low, the operations have effectively turned the densely populated 140-square-mile strip into a death trap. Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2023 As rescue workers brought the last of those trapped in the car to safety on Tuesday, relief that their lifeline had not become a death trap washed over the village. Salman Masood, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2023 But too many Chinese brands cut corners in important areas like performance or, worse, safety, with the Jiangling Landwind in 2005 earning a reputation as a death trap. Bychristiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2023 Flames devoured a structure that overcrowding, security gates, mounds of garbage and flimsy subdividing had turned into a death trap. Lynsey Chutel, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'death trap.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of death trap was in 1828

Dictionary Entries Near death trap

Cite this Entry

“Death trap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/death%20trap. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

death trap

noun
: an object or situation likely to cause death
that old elevator is a death trap
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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