A door set flat into a floor, ceiling, or roof, rather than upright in a wall. You lift it or it swings down, and underneath is usually a cellar, an attic, a hold in a ship, or a hidden space.

A door set flat into a floor, ceiling, or roof一種平放進地板、天花板或屋頂裡的門， rather than upright in a wall而不是直立在牆上的門。 You lift it or it swings down你把它掀起來，或它往下擺開， and underneath is usually a cellar, an attic, a hold in a ship, or a hidden space下面通常是地窖、閣樓、船艙貨艙，或一個隱藏的空間。

The point of a trapdoor is that when it is shut it more or less disappears into the surface — you walk over it without noticing. That hidden quality is why the word turns up so much in stories: the secret way out of a castle, the floor that opens under someone on a stage, the gallows. Stage magicians and theatres genuinely use them, and in old prisons the drop under a hanging man was a trapdoor, which is where some of the word's grimness comes from.

The point of a trapdoor is that when it is shut it more or less disappears into the surfaceTrapdoor的重點是，關起來的時候它幾乎會融入表面，消失不見—— you walk over it without noticing你可以踩過去而不會注意到。 That hidden quality is why the word turns up so much in stories這種隱藏的特質，就是為什麼這個詞常常出現在故事裡： the secret way out of a castle, the floor that opens under someone on a stage, the gallows城堡的秘密逃生口、舞台上有人腳下打開的地板、絞刑台。 Stage magicians and theatres genuinely use them舞台魔術師和劇院真的會用這種門， and in old prisons the drop under a hanging man was a trapdoor而在舊時的監獄裡，吊死犯人時腳下掉落的那塊，就是一個trapdoor， which is where some of the word's grimness comes from這個詞有一部分陰森的味道就是從這裡來的。

In everyday modern life the plainest example is the small square door in a ceiling that you push up to get into the roof space.

In everyday modern life the plainest example is the small square door in a ceiling在現代的日常生活裡，最普通的例子就是天花板上那種小方門， that you push up to get into the roof space你推開就能進到屋頂空間的。

It also has a technical use in computing, where a trapdoor (more often called a backdoor now) is a hidden way into a system that gets around the normal password check.

It also has a technical use in computing它在電腦領域也有一個技術性的用法： where a trapdoor (more often called a backdoor now)trapdoor（現在更常被叫做backdoor／後門） is a hidden way into a system指的是一種進入系統的隱藏途徑 that gets around the normal password check可以繞過正常的密碼檢查。

Written as one word usually, though you will see "trap door" as two, and both are accepted.

Written as one word usually通常寫成一個字， though you will see "trap door" as two不過你也會看到『trap door』分開寫成兩個字， and both are accepted兩種都可以。