trapdoor

noun

trap·​door ˈtrap-ˈdȯr 

: a lifting or sliding door covering an opening (as in a roof, ceiling, or floor)

Examples of trapdoor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Concluding Thought Since a personal guarantee is a pledge of all one's worldly non-exempt assets to back the underlying loan, a personal guarantee is basically a financial noose that one puts their head into and then waits to see if the trapdoor opens. —Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025

When an inlet on Haugen's street fills, a trapdoor opens and dumps the contents into a 20-inch steel tube below the street. —Arkansas Online, 15 June 2025

These elements might appear to be in opposition to one another, but the band’s capacity to hold them in balance is arguably its defining achievement; all three are crucial, in different ways, to whatever trapdoor occasionally opens up mid-set. —Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025

But instead of using chemicals, public key cryptography uses mathematical puzzles called trapdoor functions. —John Pavlus, WIRED, 15 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing trapdoor

• trapdoor spider

Rhymes for trapdoor

• abhor
• abor
• adore
• afore
• ardour
• ashore
• backdoor
• before
• bookstore
• candour
• centaur
• claymore

Kids Definition

trapdoor

noun

trap·​door ˈtrap-ˈdō(ə)r 

-ˈdȯ(ə)r

: a lifting or sliding door covering or hiding an opening in a roof, ceiling, or floor