birdlime

American  

[burd-lahym] / ˈbɜrdˌlaɪm /

noun

1. a sticky material prepared from holly, mistletoe, or other plants, and smeared on twigs to catch small birds that light on it.

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verb (used with object)

birdlimed, birdliming

1. to smear with birdlime.

2. to catch or capture, as with birdlime.

   to be birdlimed by flattery.

birdlime British  

/ ˈbɜːdˌlaɪm /

noun

1. a sticky substance, prepared from holly, mistletoe, or other plants, smeared on twigs to catch small birds

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verb

1. (tr) to smear (twigs) with birdlime to catch (small birds)

Etymology

Origin of birdlime

First recorded in 1400–50, birdlime is from the late Middle English word brydelyme. See bird, lime ²

Example Sentences

But Professor Lloyd breaks down their "trapping mechanisms" into six categories �pitfalls, lobster pots, snares, flypaper or birdlime traps, steel traps and mousetraps.

From Time Magazine Archive

As a reaction against the sunny hues of impressionism, the cubists had often painted with what looked like birdlime and various fine shades of mud.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tables, people, pipes and wine bottles were all reduced to barely decipherable fragments, each seen from a different angle and painted in various shades of birdlime and mud.

From Time Magazine Archive

The baboons learned about the birdlime, too, and all she found now were a few forlorn feathers.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Back and forth they went, gluing the grass to the birdlime until it was covered up.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Related Words

• adhesive
• mud
• plaster
• sand