Retrap

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To catch or ensnare again after release ; to set or reset a trap for someone or something that was previously caught
2. Capturing once more an animal, person, or thing that had escaped ; placing back into a condition or situation intended to trap after prior liberation
3. Securing anew by means of a trap after a previous capture or escape ; restoring a trapping mechanism to recapture something previously caught

Etymology: "Retrap" is simply "re-" attached to "trap," with the prefix meaning "again" and the verb meaning to catch something once more. The formation is transparent: the prefix "re-" (from Latin "re-", "back" or "again") has been productive in English for centuries, letting speakers add the sense of repetition to almost any verb. "Trap" itself is the older and more familiar base, so "retrap" needs no special history of its own. The verb is most often used of animals, such as a rodent returning to a bait, or a prisoner, inmate, or hostage caught again after an escape. The second sense in the definition, placing something back into a trapping situation after it has been freed, works the same way: the prefix simply adds "once more" to the act of trapping.