flypaper

Thân thiện

A strip of flypaper hangs from the ceiling in the kitchen.

Definition

Noun: A type of paper, often in a strip, that is coated with a sticky, adhesive substance (or sometimes a poison) designed to trap and kill flies.

Usage

"Flypaper" is an uncountable noun referring to the material itself. It is used to describe the trap as a tool or product. - We need to buy some flypaper for the kitchen. - The old-fashioned method involved hanging flypaper near the window.

Examples

• The cafe used flypaper to control the fly population.
• A single strip of flypaper caught dozens of insects.
• He was as stuck to her as a fly on flypaper. (Figurative use comparing strong attachment to the trap's stickiness).

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: "Flypaper" can be used metaphorically to describe a situation, place, or person that traps or ensnares others.
  • The small town felt like flypaper; once you moved there, you could never leave.
• Military Strategy ("Flypaper Theory"): In strategic discussions, it refers to a tactic of drawing enemy forces into a specific area to contain and engage them, much like flies are drawn to and stuck on flypaper.

Variants and Related Words

• Flytrap (n): A general term for any device that catches flies, which can include flypaper, but more commonly refers to the Venus flytrap plant.
• Adhesive tape (n): A more general product that shares the sticky property but not the specific purpose.

Synonyms

• Insect paper
• Sticky fly trap

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Like flies to flypaper: Used to describe something or someone that attracts a lot of attention or many people, often with negative or troublesome consequences.
  • The new tax loophole drew investors like flies to flypaper.

Học thuật

Noun

1. paper that is poisoned or coated with a sticky substance to kill flies