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as in hitch
a danger or difficulty that is hidden or not easily recognized
he noticed the booby trap in the interviewer's question just a little too late
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of booby-trap
Keith Phipps, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2024
The Department of Transportation tried to keep the process relatively frictionless, but the city council introduced a potential booby trap.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 21 Aug. 2024
Wary of booby traps and with evening closing in, the troops did not enter the building until the next day.
—James MacKenzie, Reuters, 18 Oct. 2024
Unfortunately, though, one open window negates all the padlocks, bolts, and booby traps money can buy.
—Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2019
See all Example Sentences for booby-trap 
Noun
In the desert, the Stranger and Nori have become aware they’re being followed and set about constructing a booby trap and maybe killing their stalker.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2024
The Department of Transportation tried to keep the process relatively frictionless, but the city council introduced a potential booby trap.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 21 Aug. 2024
Wary of booby traps and with evening closing in, the troops did not enter the building until the next day.
—James MacKenzie, Reuters, 18 Oct. 2024
Unfortunately, though, one open window negates all the padlocks, bolts, and booby traps money can buy.
—Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2019
See all Example Sentences for booby-trap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for booby-trap
Verb
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The mob attacked the sick and elderly and raped multiple women, according to the report.—
Chelsea Bailey,
CNN,
16 Feb. 2025
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Government officials and local civil society leaders didn't immediately comment, though Congo's Communications Ministry said the rebels had violated ceasefire agreements and attacked Congolese troops working to avoid urban warfare and violence in Bukavu.—
JUSTIN KABUMBA,
arkansasonline.com,
16 Feb. 2025
Noun
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After the Royal Navy dotted the English Channel with mines and declared the whole North Sea a war zone in November 1914, Germany responded with a U-boat blockade of Britain.—
Sean Kingsley,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 Feb. 2025
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The Placer County Fire Department said crews, with the help of the Auburn City Fire Department, responded to a medical rescue on Feb. 10, for a 16-year-old boy who was stuck in a vertical mine shaft nearly 50 feet deep.—
Greg Wehner,
Fox News,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
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So far, there haven’t been reports of major technical failings on Tubi’s end, indicating the event went on largely without a hitch.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
10 Feb. 2025
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Despite 13 buildings being burned down, one person killed, 11 wounded, 400 arrested and $1 million worth of damage, the game went off as scheduled without a hitch.—
Barry M. Bloom,
Sportico.com,
10 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The Palestinians who lived there had no homes because their homes were bombed (that is another story for another time).—
Letters to the Editor,
Hartford Courant,
7 Feb. 2025
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But the most dangerous favor, by far, would be U.S. assistance in bombing Iranian nuclear sites — or even threatening to do so in a new campaign of diplomatic coercion.—
Rosemary Kelanic,
Twin Cities,
5 Feb. 2025
Noun
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On average, one person is killed or injured by land mines and other explosive ordnance every hour, according to UNICEF.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
8 Jan. 2025
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But this month is packed with potential land mines that can disrupt the stock market’s momentum.—
Fred Imbert,
CNBC,
2 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The report also found that Santa Barbara County failed to thoroughly empty the existing basins before the disaster, drastically reducing their capacity to trap debris.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2025
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For Minnesota, that means cold air masses remain trapped in northern Canada, leading to warmer and drier conditions in the state on average.—
Mohamaed Ibrahim,
Twin Cities,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The area is now at risk for mudslides amid the looming threat of extensive rain.—
Justin Gest,
Newsweek,
11 Feb. 2025
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Caregivers are urged to get up to date on their vaccines because that can reduce the risk of passing on an infection to young children, Mestre said.—
Alexander Tin,
CBS News,
11 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Zoom in: The story appears to have started when Politico missed payroll on Tuesday because of a tech snag, media reporter Will Sommer notes.—
Erica Pandey,
Axios,
5 Feb. 2025
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Image In the past few years, as pandemic supply chain snags and geopolitical shocks produced a spike in prices around the world, officials in Japan seized the opportunity to turn elevated import costs into lasting inflation.—
River Akira Davis,
New York Times,
24 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near booby-trap
Cite this Entry
“Booby-trap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/booby-trap. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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