Trapdoor
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A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door that is flush with the surface of a floor, ceiling, or roof.
History
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
Gallows
Most 19th- and early 20th-century gallows featured a trapdoor, usually with two flaps. The condemned was placed at the join. The edge of a trapdoor farthest from the hinge accelerates faster than gravity, so that the condemned 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
The term trapdoor also refers to a plate in the entry vestibule of a
Biology
Star traps in theatre
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
A trapdoor figures prominently in a late scene of the 1963 film Charade.
See also
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary 2nd ed
- ^ "TRAPDOOR | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". Dictionary.cambridge.org. 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
- ^ a b "Greens Mill". Archived from the original on 2010-11-17.
- ^ "Federal Register :: Request Access".
- ^ When the Burgular Goes a-Burgling. Popular Science October 1919, Page 43.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ "Charade (1963)".
- ISBN 978-3-11-043697-6.
- ^ Winkler, Anita. "Wiederverwertung bis zum Tod". Die Welt der Habsburger. Schönbrunn Group of museums. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "Trap-door Spider - Definition of trap-door spider by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com.
External links
Media related to Trapdoors at Wikimedia Commons