a sticky material prepared from holly, mistletoe, or other plants, and smeared on twigs to catch small birds that light on it.
verb (used with object), bird·limed, bird·lim·ing.
to smear with birdlime.
to catch or capture, as with birdlime: to be birdlimed by flattery.
Origin of birdlime
First recorded in 1400–50, birdlime
is from the late Middle English
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for birdlimeadhesive
Examples from the Web for birdlime
Historical Examples of birdlime
Upon inquiry, however, he found that no birdlime was to be had.
He described the merits of deadfalls, snares, steel traps, and birdlime.
The hazels are all down, and the hollies pounded into birdlime.
It is the birdlime with which the devil catches many a female and male soul.
The flies seem an Egyptian plague, and get mortised into the oily butter, which holds them like birdlime.
British Dictionary definitions for birdlime
a sticky substance, prepared from holly, mistletoe, or other plants, smeared on twigs to catch small birds
(tr) to smear (twigs) with birdlime to catch (small birds)
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 birdlime
viscous sticky stuff prepared from holly bark and used to catch small birds, mid-15c., from bird (n.1) + lime (n.1). Used as rhyming slang for time (especially time in prison) by 1857.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper