Trap (tactic)

A trap is a device intended to catch an intruder or prey. "Trap" may also refer to the tactic of catching or harming an adversary. Conversely it may also mean a hindrance for change, being caught in a trap.

Device

• Animal trapping
  • Mousetrap
  • Bird trapping
    • Heligoland trap, a kind of bird trap
  • Insect trap
• Man-trap
• Booby trap
• Chemical trap, a chemical compound usable for capturing an elusive molecule
• Penning trap, used to store charged particles

Tactic

• Canary trap, a method for exposing an information leak
• Chess trap, a move intended to induce the opponent to blunder
• Honey trap, a form of sting operation in law enforcement
• Neutral zone trap, a defensive strategy in ice hockey
• Speed trap, a tactic designed to catch speed limit violators, or a place where such a tactic is commonly used
• Trap street, an intentionally incorrectly rendered street on a map

Hindrance

• Sand trap, a type of hazard in golf
• Welfare trap, a phenomenon by which social policies interact to keep people dependent on welfare
• High level equilibrium trap, a concept used to explain why China never underwent an indigenous Industrial Revolution
• Liquidity trap, a concept in economics involving a stagnant economy and low interest rates
• Carrier trap, a type of defect in a semiconductor