trapdoor

[trap-dawr, -dohr] /ˈtræpˈdɔr, -ˈdoʊr/

noun

a door flush with the surface of a floor, ceiling, or roof.

the opening that it covers.

adjective

of, pertaining to, or like a trapdoor.

Also, trap door.

Origin

1325-75; Middle English trappe dore. See trap¹, door

Examples from the web for trapdoor

He stood beneath the trapdoor and pulled a kitchen chair into the hallway and stood on it.
He had to turn his back on the audience, spread a cloak and slip down a trapdoor and out of there.
The trapdoor is left open for several days, until the hogs are comfortable with it.
Ferrets have been observed returning to the cages for no more than a few days after the trapdoor was opened.
Every pit and trapdoor floor opening, infrequently used, shall be guarded by a floor opening cover of standard strength.
Access was gained by a ladder and a trapdoor in the kitchen and through a door in the gable.
Above the second-floor landing was a locked rectangular trapdoor, painted brown and scored with scratches.
Attach the wire loops to the cutaway half to make a trapdoor.
When an aquatic bug brushes one of the trigger hairs, the plant pumps out creating a vacuum and the trapdoor swings open.
Inside the tower's cabin, entered through a hinged trapdoor in the cabin's floor, was an alidade on a podium.