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flypaper

[ flahy-pey-per ]

noun

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


flypaper

/ ˈflaɪˌpeɪpə /

noun

  1. 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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of flypaper1

First recorded in 1840–50; fly 1 + paper
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Example Sentences

More begets more, and spending tends to stick at higher levels, which is why the phenomenon is known as “the flypaper effect.”

But they were as impotent as two flies that had rolled in the sticky slime of some super-flypaper.

He prowls around and challenges man until he comes to the flypaper; he then slinks away.

President Cleveland—And are you using that flypaper according to directions?

But he kept on and drew nearer and nearer, breathing hard and gathering flies like a flypaper.

The agricultural model for instance, which was practicable, proved a kind of flypaper for these busybodies.

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