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Wiktionary
deathtrap

n. 1 An extremely dangerous location, structure or device. 2 A plot device where a villain in a story puts a hero in an elaborate dangerous situation for the purposes of attempting a sadistic murder.

WordNet
deathtrap

n. any structure that is very unsafe; where people are likely to be killed

Wikipedia
Deathtrap (plot device)

A deathtrap is a literary and dramatic plot device in which a villain who has captured the hero or another sympathetic character attempts to use an elaborate and usually sadistic method of murdering him/her.

It is often used as a means to create dramatic tension in the story and to have the villain reveal important information to the hero, confident that the hero will shortly not be able to use it. It may also be a means to show the hero's resourcefulness in escaping, or the writer's ingenuity at devising a last-minute rescue or deus ex machina.

Deathtrap

Deathtrap may refer to:

  • Deathtrap (play), a 1978 play by Ira Levin which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play
  • Deathtrap (film), a 1982 film based on the Levin play
  • Death Trap, a 1977 film better known as Eaten Alive
  • Deathtrap (plot device), a plot device in fiction and drama
  • Deathtrap, a hypothetical organism from Extraterrestrial
  • "Death Trap" (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), a second season episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
  • Deathtrap, a character from Stormwatch, leader of a team of mercenaries
  • The Death Trap, a 1984 video game developed and published by Square for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, and Fujitsu FM-7
  • Will: The Death Trap II, sequel to the previous game
  • "Death Trap", a song by Hawkwind from their 1979 album PXR5
  • "Death Trap", a song by Pantera from their 1988 album Power Metal
  • "Death Trap", a song by Gravediggaz from their 1997 album 6 Feet Deep
  • Death Trap, kind of a stage fatality which occurs in Mortal Kombat during the fight
  • A political neologism used to condemn the budget proposal The Path to Prosperity
  • Deathtrap, a robot constructed by a character called Gaige to serve as her personal bodyguard in the fictional Borderlands series of games programmed by Gearbox
Deathtrap (film)

Deathtrap is a 1982 American thriller film based on Ira Levin's play of the same name, directed by Sidney Lumet from a screenplay by Levin and Jay Presson Allen, starring Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon and Christopher Reeve. Critics gave the film mostly favorable reviews while noting its plot similarities to Caine's 1972 film Sleuth.

Deathtrap (play)

Deathtrap is a play written by Ira Levin in 1978 with many plot twists and which references itself as a play within a play. It is in two acts with one set and five characters. It holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway and was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. Deathtrap was well received by many and has been frequently revived. It was adapted into a film starring Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine, and Dyan Cannon in 1982.

Usage examples of "deathtrap".

If the operation was wide enough, even this backstop position could become a deathtrap.

She needed vivid, persuasive visuals to demonstrate that airplane was a deathtrap.

Looking left, away from these deathtraps, he saw a wide alcove with a stone bench at the back of it.

Rommel’s antiparatroop precautions had paid off well: The waters and swamps of the flooded Dives valley were deathtraps.

He could see the Dragoons standing on the lips of the chasm, firing down into the deathtrap of the road where, nine hundred years before, the Moors had been slaughtered.

That hedgerow, with its sunken lane behind, would be a deathtrap to cavalry, while an open meadow, bright with buttercups and rising towards a fat farm on a gentle hill, would be a place to avoid like the plague if French cuiraisseurs were in the area.

After you have washed and dressed properly, we'll have some nice cucumber sandwiches and pink tea that Towanda packed for lunch, then we'll tell you where all of the new deathtraps are hidden.