Trapdoor

A trap door is a door recessed into a horizontal plane, such as a ceiling or floor, which serves as an access to a corridor or a room. Trap doors often serve as space-saving access to basements or attics, and in the case of doors recessed in the ceiling, a mechanism can trigger the integrated staircase in the form of a ladder. Trap doors can also serve as secret doors.

• During executions on the gallows, the executioner operated a lever which opened a trap door via a mechanism. The delinquent was led in free fall (long drop) through the trapdoor floor until the noose fatally injured the cervical spine, so that a quick death occurred. If executed incorrectly (a rope that was too short resulted in a shortened drop), agonizing suffocation took place instead of a quick break of the neck.
• A trap door is also the vertically downward falling door in an animal cage. It is triggered either involuntarily by the animal when it is to be caught (animal trap) or by a human by releasing a locking device (transport cage).
• A trap door is also a door that opens downwards suddenly due to a folding mechanism when entered carelessly, causing the person to fall. Especially in the Middle Ages, castle owners used trap doors to protect certain rooms from unwelcome visitors and thieves.
• In vehicles, especially on ships, trap doors are called hatches.
• A trap door on a theatrical stage is called a sinking in technical jargon.
• During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong built numerous tunnel systems that could be entered and exited through camouflaged trapdoors. These are a tourist attraction today (see pictures).

See also

• Fear Hole
• Folding door (foldable door)