the.com/mantrap
a steel maw that waited in the woods for poachers and never once asked a question
means A mantrap is a device or scheme designed to catch a person — historically a vicious spring-loaded steel trap set to snare trespassers and poachers, and figuratively any alluring lure or a seductive person who ensnares the unwary.
from A plain compound of "man" and "trap," both old Germanic words — "man" tracing back to Old English mann (a human being) and "trap" to Old English treppe (a snare). The literal iron contraption became notorious on English estates, where landowners set them to maim poachers until they were largely outlawed in the 19th century. From that grim reality the word stretched outward: by figurative extension a "mantrap" came to mean any enticing snare, and later a person — usually a woman — whose charm catches victims like the steel jaws once caught legs.
- victorian gear
- Spring-jawed traps guarded estates against trespassers and poachers
- banned 1827
- Britain outlawed them after maiming too many innocents
- double meaning
- Also slang for an irresistibly dangerous, seductive person
- security term
- A double-door booth trapping intruders is called a mantrap
- bone breaker
- Some versions had spikes designed to shatter legs
man trap door spider — australian funnel-web spider that kills humans faster than any other spider species, with venom lethal in 15 minutes
bear trap number 1 — victor brand steel jaw trap widely used in north america from 1899 onward, capable of breaking human limbs
oneida community trap — animal trap manufactured by oneida community ltd in upstate new york starting 1848, used on humans in some historical incidents