Significato: blackstrap

n. rum o porto di scarsa qualità

trap Idioma

build a better mousetrap

improve a common product If you're not an inventor, you try to build a better mousetrap.

claptrap

nonsense, trivia, bull I heard what the psychic said. What a lot of claptrap!

fall into a trap

be tricked, be deceived When the lawyer asks you questions, don't fall into a trap.

strapped

having very little money, nearly flat broke I can't afford to go to a concert this month. I'm strapped.

strapped for cash

have no money available I am a little strapped for cash so I won

tourist trap

place that is overpriced and attracts tourists He thinks that Hawaii is a tourist trap and doesn

strap

a gun

trap

to sell drugs

pull oneself up by one's own bootstraps

Idiom(s): pull oneself up (by one's own bootstraps)

Theme: DETERMINATION

to achieve (something) through one's own efforts.
• They simply don’t have the resources to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
• If I could have pulled myself up, Id have done it by now.

have a mind like a steel trap

Idiom(s): have a mind like a steel trap

Theme: INTELLIGENCE

to have a very sharp and agile mind; to have a mind capable of fast, incisive thought.
• Sally can handle the questioning. She has a mind like a steel trap.
• If I had a mind like a steel trap, I wouldn't have so much trouble concentrating.

be strapped

Idiom(s): strapped (for sth)

Theme: LACKING

very much in need of money. (Informal.)
• I'm strapped for a few bucks. Can you loan me five dollars?
• Sorry, I'm strapped, too.

fall into the trap

Idiom(s): fall into a trap AND fall into the trap; fall into someone's trap

Theme: DECEPTION

to become caught in someone's scheme; to be deceived into doing or thinking something.
• We fell into a trap by asking for an explanation.
• I fell into his trap when I agreed to drive him home.
• We fell into the trap of thinking he was honest.

fall into one's trap

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps

If you pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you make the effort to improve things for yourself.

bear trap|bear|trap

n., slang, citizen's band radio jargon A police radar unit designed to catch speeders. Watch the bear trap at exit 101.

mind like a steel trap|mind|steel|steel trap|trap

n. phr. A very quick and understanding mind, which is quick to catch an idea. Henry is not fond of sports, but he has a mind like a steel trap. A successful lawyer must have a mind like a steel trap.

pull oneself up by the bootstraps|bootstrap|bootst

adv. phr. To succeed without help; succeed by your own efforts. He had to pull himself up by the bootstraps.

sand trap|sand|trap

n. A low place on a golf course that is filled with sand to stop the ball. The golfer lost four strokes trying to get the ball out of the sand trap.

speed trap|speed|trap

n. A place where police hide and wait to catch drivers who are going even a little faster than the speed limit. Mr. Jones was caught in a speed trap.

strapped for|strapped

adj. Broke; out of funds. My brother is so extravagant that he is always strapped for cash.

tax trap|tax|trap

n., informal Predicament in which taxpayers in middle-income brackets are required to pay steeply progressive rates of taxation as their earnings rise with inflation but their personal exemptions remain fixed, resulting in a loss of real disposable income. Everybody in my neighborhood has been caught in a tax trap.

bootstrap

bootstrap
lift oneself by the (or one's own) bootstraps
or
to achieve success by one's own unaided efforts

by one's bootstraps

by one's bootstraps
see under pull oneself up by the bootstraps.

mind like a steel trap, have a

mind like a steel trap, have a
Be very quick to understand something, as in Aunt Ida may be old, but she still has a mind like a steel trap. This simile likens the snapping shut of an animal trap to a quick mental grasp.

pull oneself up by the bootstraps

pull oneself up by the bootstraps
Succeed by one's own efforts, as in She was homeless for nearly two years, but she managed to pull herself up by the bootstraps. This expression alludes to pulling on high boots by means of the straps or loops attached to them at the top. [Early 1900s]

strapped for

strapped for
In need of, as in We're strapped for cash this week. Originating in the mid-1800s as simply strapped, meaning “in need of money,” the term acquired for in the first half of the 1900s. Now the term is also used for other needs, as in I can't give you any more firewood; I'm strapped for it myself.