Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A trap for catching flies.
  • noun An insectivorous plant, such as the Venus flytrap.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In botany: The pitcher-plant, Sarracenia purpurea; also the trumpet-leaf, S. flava, the leaves of which entrap flies and other insects.
  • noun A trap to catch flies.
  • noun In botany, the Apocynum androsæmifolium, which captures insects by means of its irritable throat-appendages.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A trap for catching flies.
  • noun (Bot.) A plant (Dionæa muscipula), called also Venus's flytrap, having two-lobed leaves which are fringed with stiff bristles, and fold together when certain sensitive hairs on their upper surface are touched, thus trapping insects that light on them. The insects so caught are afterwards digested by a secretion from the upper surface of the leaves. The plant is native to North and South Carolina, growing in bogs.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A trap for catching flies
  • noun Venus flytrap, an insectivorous plant

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a trap for catching flies

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

fly +‎ trap

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word flytrap.

Examples

  • “The Venus Flytrap’s Lethal Allure” talks about the fact that the flytrap is native to only one spot on earth – a 100-mile-long sliver of habitat that encompassesthe wet pine savannas of northern South Carolina and southern North Carolina.

    The endangered Venus Flytrap « Sugar Creek Gardens’ Blog 2010

  • This also appears to be yet another acknowledgement that Iraq was always intended to be a "flytrap" for terrorists.

    Selling the War Effort Garry 2005

  • This also appears to be yet another acknowledgement that Iraq was always intended to be a "flytrap" for terrorists.

    Archive 2005-12-01 Garry 2005

  • One of nature's most recognized wonders, the Venus 'flytrap's ability to snatch living prey makes it a favorite of elementary school science classes everywhere.

    Durangoherald.com 2008

  • Flying Duck also gave Oscar a kiss on the head, and Oscar, quick as a Venus flytrap, caught Flying Duck with a whipped-cream hug.

    Ruby Lu Star of the Star of the Show Lenore Look 2011

  • Mr. Sisman's daily routine—males report to the garden five days a week first thing in the morning, sentenced females arriving soon after they depart—includes feeding ants to the venus flytrap "We're going to get it to flower before I leave," the inmate vowed, "they've never had it flower." and doling out bread to the guinea hens.

    One Bright Side of Rikers Island Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • I know all I have to do is respond in kind—open up to them like the jaws of a Venus flytrap and they would land, ever so gently, on my pretty pink tongue.

    Cougar Ann Wahlman 2011

  • Flying Duck also gave Oscar a kiss on the head, and Oscar, quick as a Venus flytrap, caught Flying Duck with a whipped-cream hug.

    Ruby Lu Star of the Star of the Show Lenore Look 2011

  • Flying Duck also gave Oscar a kiss on the head, and Oscar, quick as a Venus flytrap, caught Flying Duck with a whipped-cream hug.

    Ruby Lu Star of the Star of the Show Lenore Look 2011

  • Maybe we need a venus flytrap, just so that I can refer to it as a “tipitiwitchet”.

    The endangered Venus Flytrap « Sugar Creek Gardens’ Blog 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I own several antique blown-glass wasp/flytraps found in an old barn in Spain.

    June 14, 2010