Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A building that can catch fire easily or is difficult to escape from in the event of fire.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun informal A building with limited
emergency exits in which people would betrapped in the event of afire .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a building that would be hard to escape from if it were to catch fire
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word firetrap.
Examples
-
The move comes after a recent walk-through by federal building inspectors, who told administration officials that the cramped press quarters were a "firetrap" and generally unsafe.
-
So, at 6 a.m. I begin tearing down all my stuff which takes about an hour now thanks to the firetrap which is my lighting system.
unclebob Diary Entry unclebob 2005
-
We carried no insurance, and so many would say we had a "firetrap" there.
-
We carried no insurance, and so many would say we had a "firetrap" there.
The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation Carry Amelia Nation 1878
-
One prognosticator, Ann Mack, a journalist turned director of trend-spotting for JWT, a global marketing communicator, says her New York City apartment is a "firetrap" with all the periodicals she stuffs in every available inch of real estate.
-
Just like the gossip that spread from locker to locker, a farm of cubicles is the perfect "firetrap" for rumors.
-
He had warned the Giants, warned the National League, and warned the city that the Polo Grounds were a firetrap, a tragedy waiting to happen.
Gotham Baseball Rose From the Ashes Joshua Robinson 2011
-
Everyone in my town would tell you that I grew up in a rat-hole firetrap and that my chosen profession was all about bringing color and clarity and order into a life of chaos.
PS 2009
-
Taxing property owners for a fire department, for example, hurts the offbeat guy who would rather live in a fireproof cave and benefits the guy whose house is a firetrap since he fills it with old newspapers.
Social Security Reform, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
-
Apparently that was the plan back in the 1950s, when the Beavers were planning their relocation out of their old stadium on NW Vaughn Street -- an all-wood, turn-of-the-century firetrap, according to our buddy.
Move the Beavers to Lents? How 1950's. (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.