booby traps 1 of 2

plural of booby trap
1
as in mines
a usually concealed explosive device designed to go off when disturbed luckily, the bomb squad didn't find any booby traps

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2
as in risks
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

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booby-traps

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of booby-trap
as in attacks
to place hidden explosive devices in or under booby-trapped the field bordering the army's camp

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of booby traps
Noun
Four years later, Kaczynski started adding booby traps around his cabin, and throughout the 1980s, he was accused by his neighbors of poisoning their dogs, The New York Times reported in 1999. — Katie Mather, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2026 But first, Roy has to undo all the booby traps in there placed to mess with visiting teams’ heads. — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026 The gauntlet of booby traps culminating in the giant boulder that kick off Raiders is my single favorite opening sequence in a movie ever. — Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly, 13 June 2026 Picture Indiana Jones swapping his fedora for a Han dynasty helmet, dodging booby traps in dusty Chinese tombs. — Urnesha Bhattacherjee, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026 In the days leading up to the attack, Ghazali allegedly rigged his truck with booby traps, fireworks, explosives, and large amounts of gasoline. — Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 30 Mar. 2026 The movie’s biggest laughs come from Kevin’s hijinks, which involve setting up complex booby traps to fend off a pair of burglars targeting his family’s home. — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 30 Jan. 2026 Their 2025-26 season has been littered with injury landmines and other booby traps hidden in the walls of Ball Arena. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 30 Jan. 2026 Deputies said during the initial call that neighbors had reported gunshots being fired and that a second caller, who claimed to have fired the gun, had placed booby traps around a home in the Kavala Ranch development. — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for booby traps
Noun
  • The North has denied responsibility for the incident and dismissed Seoul's demand to apologize and remove its remaining mines.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Before any aid moves, mines will be cleared on the routes into the city, Lubinets said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • After the time change in November, however, those risks are lower.
    — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 31 Oct. 2026
  • Strategic reserves of munitions, fuel, electronics, critical minerals To address these risks, FORTRESS calls for strategic reserves of munitions, fuel, electronics, critical minerals, medical supplies and spare parts.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Tighter oversight of explosives The task force also called for tighter controls on the importation and regulation of fireworks and explosive materials.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • The situation in Oleshky is desperate, with food and medical supplies running perilously low for the up to 2,000 people still there, as drones and land mines restrict movement.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
  • His Minderoo Foundation—named for the cattle ranch of his childhood—has since given about $28 million to Ukraine’s schools and agricultural projects, and to clearing land mines.
    — Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Some games entirely errored out, some had hitches, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips were targeting relatively low-end gaming to begin with.
    — Sean Hollister, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2026
  • That type of physicality can come in handy on plays like quick hitches, screens, drags run over the middle of the field.
    — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • New Denim had a tighter weave to resist snags and tears and was stronger and more durable than other denim, yet still pliable and comfortable.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Efforts to move the games to larger area venues, such as Gas South Arena (around 13,000 seats) and Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (8,600 seats), have hit snags, according to USA Today.
    — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Booby traps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/booby%20traps. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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