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Glite Dictionary
🖥️ Deceptive web blocking 🐭 Catching mice 🐭 To trap mice
to mousetrapping

to mousetrapping

7.0
To catch mice using a tool or to keep someone in a situation they cannot leave
  • verb
  • /ˈmaʊsˌtræpɪŋ/
translation icon : atrapar ratones
  • He spent the afternoon mousetrapping in the attic to catch the mice that had invaded the house.

Examples

  • The website was accused of mousetrapping users by making it hard to leave the page.

  • She felt like her boss was mousetrapping her into extra work she did not want.

  • He spent the afternoon mousetrapping the attic to deal with the rodent problem.

  • We need to mousetrap the mice in the basement.

  • She mousetrapped the pesky rodents quickly.

  • The developers received backlash for mousetrapping users with persistent ads that blocked navigation.

  • She felt trapped at work as if her boss was mousetrapping her into taking on more tasks than she could handle.

Synonyms

to trap
vsto mousetrapping
919 2.6

To catch and hold someone or something so they cannot leave

focuses more on catching mice or confining people rather than general capture
to snare
vsto mousetrapping
18 5.6

To catch something, often by using a trap or a trick

can be a literal device or a figurative way to confine people
to ensnare
vsto mousetrapping
13 7.7

To trap someone or something, often by a trick when they are in a difficult situation

can also mean using a device to catch mice as well as causing hardship
to entrap
vsto mousetrapping
8 7.2

To catch a person or animal by tricking them so they cannot escape

may instead be literal device use or less about deliberate trickery
to hunt
vsto mousetrapping
4 4.5

To force someone or something out of a place by chasing them

focuses on catching or confining rather than actively chasing out
to mousetrap
vsto mousetrapping
3.6

To catch mice using a small device that snaps shut

is used more broadly including as a figurative way to confine people

How Trapped

to ensnare
13 7.7
to mousetrapping
7.0

Surface Forms

mousetrapping infinitive
mousetrap past
mousetrap past participle
mousetrapping present participle
mousetraps third person singular

Morphology

mousetrapping = mousetrap (semi-transparent) = mouse + trap + ing

Formed from the verb 'mousetrap' + '-ing' (the verb itself is a transparent conversion from the noun, but it also has a figurative sense), so overall is partially metaphorical.

Etymology

Mousetrapping comes from mouse and trap, meaning to 'catch' a mouse. So to mousetrap someone can be literal—catching mice with a trap—or figurative—trapping a person in a situation they cannot easily leave.