What does entrapping mean?
Entrapping is the present participle of the verb 'to entrap,' meaning to catch someone or something in a trap, or more figuratively, to lure a person into a predicament from which escape is difficult. Its most prominent modern use is legal: in many jurisdictions, entrapping a suspect — that is, inducing someone to commit an offense they would not otherwise have committed — can serve as grounds for dismissing charges, since the law frowns on manufacturing crime rather than merely detecting it. Outside the courtroom, the word appears in journalism and everyday prose to describe both physical capture, such as animals caught in snares, and metaphorical ensnarement, such as borrowers entrapping themselves in spiraling debt. Because it implies deliberate deception or manipulation, entrapping carries a distinctly negative connotation, suggesting unfairness or treachery on the part of the one setting the trap.
Catching or ensnaring someone or something in or as if in a trap.
"The hunters were fined for entrapping migratory birds out of season."
Often used figuratively for situations, debts, or relationships.
(Law) Inducing a person to commit a crime they would not otherwise have committed.
"The defense claimed the FBI was entrapping an otherwise law-abiding citizen."
Central to the entrapment defense in US and UK law.
In American courts, an entire criminal case can collapse if police are shown to have been entrapping the defendant — the trap springs back on the trapper.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of entrapping
Entrap derives from the prefix en- ('in, within'), from Old French and ultimately Latin, combined with the noun trap, which entered Middle English from Old English træppe. The verb took shape in English during the early modern period, with its figurative sense of luring someone into wrongdoing well established by the seventeenth century. It shares its core with the common noun trap and with related forms such as entrapment, which became especially significant in twentieth-century Anglo-American criminal law as a recognized defense.
Related word forms
How entrapping is actually used
Most frequent in legal and journalistic contexts, where it carries a strongly negative connotation implying deception or unfair inducement by authorities. In everyday use it can describe physical trapping or metaphorical ensnarement (e.g., in debt or a bad relationship). The related noun 'entrapment' is far more common in formal legal writing.
Easily confused with entrapping
Entrapping is the verb form describing the act itself, while entrapment is the noun naming either the act or, specifically, the legal defense based on it.