honey trap

See also: honeytrap and honey-trap

English

Alternative forms

• honeytrap, honey-trap

Etymology

Popularised by John le Carré in the novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974).

Pronunciation

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Noun

honey trap (plural honey traps)

1. (idiomatic) The use of a romantic or a sexual relationship to entice a person into revealing secret information.
   • 1974, John le Carré, chapter 12, in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, →ISBN:

     “Some girl had made a fool of him,” said Connie with great contempt. “The Dutch set him a honey trap, my dear, and he barged in with his eyes wide shut.”

Translations

use of a romantic or a sexual relationship

• Arabic: فَخّ الْعَسَل m (faḵḵ al-ʕasal)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 美人計／美人计 (zh) (měirénjì)

• French: piège de miel f
• German: Honigfalle (de) f
• Japanese: ハニートラップ (ja) (hanī torappu)
• Korean: 미인계(美人計) (ko) (miin'gye)
• Polish: miodowa pułapka f
• Russian: медо́вая лову́шка f (medóvaja lovúška)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ме̏дена за̑мка f

  Latin: mȅdena zȃmka f

• Swedish: honungsfälla c

Verb

honey trap (third-person singular simple present honey traps, present participle honey trapping, simple past and past participle honey trapped)

1. (transitive) To entice a person into a compromising situation (such as revealing secret information) by means of a romantic or sexual relationship.

Derived terms

• honey trapper

See also

• honeyfuggle
• honeypot
• thirst trap
• you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

Anagrams

• renopathy