The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #66740   Message #1110028
Posted By: IanC
05-Feb-04 - 12:03 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Van Diemen's Land
Subject: RE: Folklore: Van Dieman's Land
Merriam-Webster records an ancient sense of the word, meaning to entrap or lure:

Main Entry: 4 tre·pan
Pronunciation: tri-'pan
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): tre·panned; tre·pan·ning
archaic : ENTRAP, LURE

:-)