speed trap
5
3.8
- noun
- /spiːd træp/
:
trampa de velocidad
- Many drivers slow down when they see a speed trap ahead.
- a notorious speed trap
- set up speed traps
- drivers about speed traps
Examples
-
He swung onto the highway and sped through town, braking to thirty-five just before the speed trap next to the bank.
Fiction book (1991) -
Yeah, they had a speed trap set up.
-
Yeah, about ten years ago l got caught in a speed trap down there.
-
And then there are all the small towns that use speed traps to fund their police.
Blog text (32) -
Usually in these speed trap situations, a member of law enforcement sets up and hands out tickets to violators.
Blog text (2) -
It's not that hard to set a speed trap so cops can flag down speeders without chasing anyone.
Blog text (12) -
The police set up a speed trap to catch those exceeding the limit on the highway.
-
According to reports, this area is notorious for its speed trap during the summer months.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a place where drivers are caught for speeding' is directly and compositionally derived from 'speed' (how fast something moves) + 'trap' (a device or setup to catch). This noun‑noun compound follows a common English pattern ('trap for X') and is cross‑linguistically intuitive, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Speed trap paints a simple picture: police hide by the road and wait to catch drivers going over the speed limit, like people caught in a trap. So it now means 'a place where police hide to catch and ticket drivers who are speeding'.