[f. TRAP v.1 + -ING1.] The action of TRAP v.1 in various senses; catching by or as by a trap, etc.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xi. (Tollem. MS.). Þan by trappynge of þe humoure, þat is conten[i]t, he makeþ þe teres falle oute of þe yen [orig. per alicationem contenti humoris oculos lacrymari faciunt].
a. 1533. Frith, Disput. Purgat. (1829), 107. To that answereth he neither yea nor nay, for fear of trapping.
1699. Country Gentleman’s Vade M., xv. 102. In which the Tricks of Bawds and Jilts are exposed, together with some Reflections upon the Art of Trapping.
1842. Rept. Comm. on Employment Children. The employment … assigned to the youngest children, generally that of ‘trapping.’
1867. Trollope, Chron. Barset, I. xxxiii. 286. [He] had his own very strong ideas about the trapping of foxes.
1890. Lancet, 22 Nov., 1125/2. The defects in drainage arrangement, such as want of proper trappings … were very numerous.
b. attrib. and Comb.
1837. W. Irving, Capt. Bonneville, i. (1849), 24. They detach bands … of trappers in various directions, assigning to each a portion of country as a … trapping ground.
1895. W. C. Fraser, Whaups of Durley, iii. 36. The trapping lesson, was … the most enjoyable part of the day’s work.
1904. Gallichan, Fishing Spain, 164. One of these trapping-places [for trout].
1904. Westm. Gaz., 3 Dec., 10/3. The Illicit Diamond Buying Act, said prisoner, was part of a trapping system.
Trapping vbl. sb.3: see TRAP sb.4
Trapping, vbl. sb.4: see TRAP-CUT, quot. 1853.
