1. devices designed to catch and kill rats
2. run-down, shabby places or buildings
Usage: informal

Examples

• The old barn was full of rusty rattraps.
• We set several rattraps in the basement to deal with the rodent problem.
• The cheese in the rattraps had been eaten but the traps hadn’t sprung.
• Those apartment buildings are nothing but rattraps.
• The health inspector condemned the restaurant, calling it one of the worst rattraps he’d ever seen.
• Modern rattraps are more humane than the old spring-loaded ones.