entrapment

Plural: entrapments

Noun

• a defense that claims the defendant would not have broken the law if not tricked into doing it by law enforcement officials
• The state of being entrapped.
• Action by law enforcement personnel to lead an otherwise innocent person to commit a crime, in order to arrest and prosecute that person for the crime.
• A method of isolating specific cells or molecules from a mixture, especially by immobilization on a gel.

Examples

• A detective asking you to buy illegal marijuana for a dying man would be police entrapment.
• The entrapment of the victims in the wreckage made rescue difficult.