[app. f. Du. trap step, stair + CUT sb.] A mode of cutting gems, chiefly used with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, etc.; also called step-cut, degree-cut: see quot. 1877.
1853. O. Byrne, Artisan’s Handbk., 225. The trap cut, or trapping, as it is called by lapidaries.
1865. Emanuel, Diamonds, 98. The Trap or Step Cut. This is the most usual, besides being the most advantageous form of cutting emeralds and other coloured stones…. There are generally only two or three steps from the table to the girdle.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Trap-cut, a mode of cutting gems in which the facets consist of parallel planes, nearly rectangular, arranged round the center of the stone.
