flypaper

American

[flahy-pay-per] / ˈflaɪˌpeɪ pər /

noun

paper designed to destroy flies by catching them on its sticky surface or poisoning them on contact.

flypaper British

/ ˈflaɪˌpeɪpə /

noun

paper with a sticky and poisonous coating, usually hung from the ceiling to trap flies

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of flypaper

First recorded in 1840–50; fly ¹ + paper

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

flypaper

It's made of sugars -- acylsugars, to be precise -- and acts as a sort of natural flypaper for would-be pests.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

Det Con Stephen Williams from Dyfed Powys Police described a cluttered room, with flypaper full of flies next to a 16th birthday balloon and cards.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2023

As it is, dozens of them are stuck to a twisted band of sticky flypaper hanging from the ceiling.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2022

Facebook users are attracted to the platform like flies to flypaper.

From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2018

That evening Grandma and I had a quiet supper at the kitchen table, under the ceiling light and the flypaper strips.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023