[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/flytrap/)

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# flytrap

noun (a flytrap, flytraps); usually «Venus flytrap»

«flytrap» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A flytrap, or Venus flytrap, is a plant whose leaves snap shut like jaws to catch flies and other insects, which it then digests. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#m1)
2. A flytrap can also be any device that catches flies, like a sticky strip. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#m2)
3. (slang, humorous) «Flytrap» can jokingly mean a person's open mouth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science lessons the Venus flytrap is an example of a carnivorous plant: it grows in poor, boggy soil, so it gets extra nutrients from insects. Tiny trigger hairs inside the leaf must be touched twice quickly before it closes. It grows wild only in a small area of North and South Carolina in the USA. Phrases: «Venus flytrap», «snap shut», «carnivorous plant».

### Examples

- The Venus flytrap snapped shut on the fly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#x1)
- Flytraps catch insects because their soil has few nutrients. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#x2)
- Don't poke the flytrap with your finger — it wastes its energy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#x3)
- Our class grew a flytrap on the windowsill. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#x4)
- The trap reopens after about a week once the insect is digested. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#x5)
- Dad hung a sticky flytrap in the kitchen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#x6)
- «Shut your flytrap!» said the cartoon pirate rudely. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/#x7)

### Note

Plural «flytraps». Usually written «Venus flytrap» with a capital V (named after the goddess Venus). Myth: flytraps do not eat people or large animals; they catch small insects and spiders. Flytraps still make food from sunlight like other plants.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «flytrap» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flytrap/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«flytrap» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/flytrap.html) on Mova free.