flypaper

American

[flahy-pey-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

In a dank home in the village of Malotaranivka on the outskirts of Kramatorsk, speckled twists of flypaper hung from the living room ceiling.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 24, 2022

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

The floorboards had been treated with varnish or paint, which bubbled in the fire’s heat and turned as sticky as flypaper.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

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