firetrap

noun

fire·​trap ˈfī(-ə)r-ˌtrap How to pronounce firetrap (audio)
: a place (such as a building) apt to catch on fire or difficult to escape from in case of fire

Examples of firetrap in a Sentence

The factory was a firetrap and dozens of workers died before rescuers could reach them.
Recent Examples on the Web The Centre for Effective Altruism’s first office had been in an overcrowded firetrap of a basement beneath an estate agent’s office. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2022 For the next several weeks, Babb searched for another insurer, but other carriers, too, saw her house as a firetrap. Jeffrey Ball, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2021 Five months after the trial began, jurors found Harris not guilty, while only 10 of the 12 jurors could agree Almena was guilty of negligence in turning the warehouse into a deadly firetrap. Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, 4 May 2020 In 2009, after years of inaction, government agencies evacuated the bunkhouse, which had devolved into a fetid firetrap of neglect. Dan Barry, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2020 The pair are accused of recklessly and illegally building a firetrap and allowing the space to be used for a music festival that attracted all but one of the victims who died in the fire. Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, 19 June 2019 Its gardens paved for parking, its murals caked with grime, its wires fraying and its circuits in every way overloaded, the palace had become a firetrap. Jane Kamensky, WSJ, 11 Oct. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'firetrap.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1881, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of firetrap was in 1881

Dictionary Entries Near firetrap

Cite this Entry

“Firetrap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/firetrap. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

firetrap

noun
fire·​trap ˈfī(ə)r-ˌtrap How to pronounce firetrap (audio)
: a building or place that is apt to catch on fire or is difficult to escape from in case of fire
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