Definition of "mousetrap"

mousetrap

/ˈmaʊsˌtɹæp/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural mousetraps
1. (countable) A device for capturing or killing mice and other rodents.
2. (countable, Internet) A website designed to open another copy of itself when the user tries to close the webpage. Frequently used by advertisers and pornographers.
3. (chiefly Britain, informal, uncountable) Ordinary, everyday cheese.
4. (New Zealand) A slice of bread or toast topped with cheese and then grilled or microwaved.
5. (military, historical) An antisubmarine rocket used mainly during World War II by the US Navy and US Coast Guard.
  Quotations
  Besides depth charges, they were armed with smaller forward firing antisubmarine rocket launchers called mousetraps. Fired in groups, these rockets detonated when they contacted a submarine.
  2003, Nautical Research Journal, volume 48, page 199
verb
third-person singular simple present mousetraps, present participle mousetrapping, simple past and past participle mousetrapped
1. (figuratively) To trap; to trick or fool (someone) into a bad situation.
  Quotations
  He hoped to bring the rebels out of their trenches for a showdown battle somewhere south of the Wilderness, that gloomy expanse of scrub oaks and pines where Lee had mousetrapped Joe Hooker exactly a year earlier.
  1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2004, page 724
2. (Internet, transitive) To prevent (the user) from leaving a website by opening another copy when it is closed.
  Quotations
  The scammer is paid for each new visitor directed to his site. There is nothing wrong except that the user finds it impossible to leave the site because he is mousetrapped.
  2005, Armando Ang, Greed & Scams, Inc