flypaper

[ flahy-pey-per ]

/ ˈflaɪˌpeɪ pər /

noun

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

Nearby words

Origin of flypaper

First recorded in 1840–50; fly² + paper

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flypaper

More begets more, and spending tends to stick at higher levels, which is why the phenomenon is known as “the flypaper effect.”
The Great Medicaid Swindle|Nick Gillespie|October 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He prowls around and challenges man until he comes to the flypaper; he then slinks away.
Autobiography of a YOGI|Paramhansa Yogananda
President Cleveland—And are you using that flypaper according to directions?
Eugene Field, A Study In Heredity And Contradictions|Slason Thompson
But he kept on and drew nearer and nearer, breathing hard and gathering flies like a flypaper.
The Wheels of Chance|H. G. Wells

Its driver was the boy who had brought the flypaper and "Job."
The Woman-Haters|Joseph C. Lincoln
"Yes, it is; and flypaper is made from my sticky pine gum," said the tree.
Uncle Wiggily in the Woods|Howard R. Garis

British Dictionary definitions for flypaper

flypaper

/ (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

Word Origin and History for flypaper

flypaper

1851 (though the item itself is said to have become commonly available in London in 1848), from fly (n.1) + paper (n.).