Trapdoor

A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling.[1] It is traditionally small in size.[2] It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time.[3] The trapdoor has played a pivotal function in the operation of the gallows, cargo ships, trains,[4] booby traps,[5] and more recently theatre and films.[6][7]

For other uses, see Trapdoor (disambiguation).
A trapdoor to a bomb shelter from World War II

History
Deck hatch of the Omega, the last square-rigged sailing cargo ship

Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position.[3]

Many buildings with flat roofs have hatches that provide access to the roof. On ships, hatches—usually not flush, and never called trapdoors—provide access to the deck. Cargo ships, including bulk carriers, have large hatches for access to the holds.

Gallows

Most 19th- and early 20th-century gallows featured a trapdoor, usually with two flaps. The victim will be placed at the join. The edge of a trapdoor farthest from the hinge accelerates faster than gravity, so that the prisoner does not hit the flaps but falls freely.

Coffins

In 1784, the reusable economy coffin was mandated by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. The coffins had a trapdoor in their base. The coffin would be lowered into the grave and a lever operated that opened the trapdoor, allowing the body to fall to the bottom of the grave.[8][9]

Railways
An Amtrak conductor standing in the doorway of an Amfleet cars with its trapdoor in the closed position
Amtrak conductors standing in the doorways of Amfleet cars with their trapdoors in the closed (above) and open (below) positions
An Amtrak conductor standing in the doorway of an Amfleet cars with its trapdoor in the open position

The term trapdoor also refers to a plate in the entry vestibule of a passenger railcar that permits access to high-level platforms when lying flat against the floor of the car, and which can be flipped open to expose steps for accessing ground-level platforms. Many American commuter railroads which operate the Comet railcars made by Bombardier have trapdoors to accommodate passengers boarding and alighting on both high-level and ground-level platforms. Amtrak's Viewliner, Amfleet, and Horizon railcar fleets all have trapdoors.

Biology

Trapdoor spiders hide in an underground nest they line with their silk, and then conceal it with a hinged silk lid, the trapdoor.[10]

Star traps in theatre
19th century Star trap from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, Now at the Victoria and Albert Museum

In theatrical use, "star traps" allowed explosively fast appearances on stage, such as jinn appearing in a puff of smoke.[6]

Fiction

Trapdoors are occasionally used as hidden doors in fiction, as entrances to secret passageways, dungeons, or to secret tunnels. They also appear as literal traps into which a hapless pedestrian may fall if they happen to step on one. Other types of doors or other objects are also sometimes used as hidden doors.

A trapdoor features in a late scene of the 1963 film Charade. Cary Grant's character releases a trapdoor in the stage of a theatre to save Audrey Hepburn's character from Walter Matthau's character.[7]

See also

References
  1. Oxford English Dictionary 2nd ed
  2. "TRAPDOOR | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". Dictionary.cambridge.org. 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  3. "Greens Mill". Archived from the original on 2010-11-17.
  4. "Federal Register :: Request Access".
  5. When the Burgular Goes a-Burgling. Popular Science October 1919, Page 43.
  6. "Trap Doors On Stage". Theatrecrafts.com. Retrieved 12 November 2018. A set of triangular sprung flaps in the stage floor through which an actor can be propelled from a lift below stage.
  7. "Charade (1963)".
  8. Classen, Albrecht (11 April 2016). Death in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times: The Material and Spiritual Conditions of the Culture of Death. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 512. ISBN 978-3-11-043697-6.
  9. Winkler, Anita. "Wiederverwertung bis zum Tod". Die Welt der Habsburger. Schönbrunn Group of museums. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  10. "Trap-door Spider - Definition of trap-door spider by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com.

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