flypaper

[ flahy-pey-per ]

/ ˈflaɪˌpeɪ pər /

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noun

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

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of flypaper

First recorded in 1840–50; fly¹ + paper

Words nearby flypaper

flyoff, fly off the handle, fly on the wall, fly orchid, flyover, flypaper, flypast, flyposting, fly press, fly rail, Fly River

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use flypaper in a sentence

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
But they were as impotent as two flies that had rolled in the sticky slime of some super-flypaper.
The Raid on the Termites|Paul Ernst
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
The agricultural model for instance, which was practicable, proved a kind of flypaper for these busybodies.
The Wrecker|Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne

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