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Glite Dictionary
to fall into a trap

to fall into a trap

1 4.1
Become tricked into a bad or dangerous situation
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : caer en una trampa
  • The detective warned that they should be careful not to fall into a trap set by the criminals.

And I think if we're good-natured, you can fall into a trap as well of what I call if X then Y where people go.

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Examples

  • You've fallen into a trap.

    Color of Night (1994)

  • Do not fall into a trap of any one person "knowing" that answer.

    Blog text (2)

  • Someone close to them betrayed them and they fell into a trap.

    Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014)

  • Looks like you fell into a trap, Kosuke.

    Means and Ends (1987)

  • However, I can see that they've fallen into a trap.

    Blog text (24)

  • And then Kathryn realized that she had fallen into a trap.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Pepe is too clever to fall into a trap, but some of his friends are not so clever.

    Algiers (1938)

  • Mr. Romney cannot afford to be seen as overly defensive or to fall into a trap by reacting to Mr. Obama's campaign playbook.

    Blog text (28)

  • Many people fall into a trap when they trust too easily without verifying information.

  • If you are not cautious about your choices, you might fall into a trap of poor judgement.

Synonyms

to fall for
vsto fall into a trap
  • Informal
148 4.3

To be tricked into believing something that is not true

is deception that leads to being trapped in a dangerous or difficult situation
to fall victim to
vsto fall into a trap
25 4.6

Suffer harm you cannot avoid because of someone or something bad

is caused by trickery or mistake and results in being trapped or deceived

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

to escape
∞ 1.0

To get away from a place where you are kept or are in danger

Surface Forms

fall into a trap infinitive
falling into a trap present participle
falls into a trap third person singular
fell into a trap past
fallen into a trap past participle

Morphology

fall + into + a + trap

The phrase combines easily interpretable parts: 'fall' (move or come into a state), 'into' (indicating entry/change of state), and 'trap' (a device or figurative snare). The figurative meaning 'become caught or deceived' is a straightforward, predictable extension of being physically caught in a trap and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

The idiom fall into a trap comes from a simple hunting picture: a person might fall into a hidden trap like a pit or net and become stuck. So today it means 'to be tricked or caught in a difficult situation'.