Meanings
nouncatchfly (plural catchflies)
plural catchflies
- Any of several plants, mostly in tribe Sileneae, that have sticky leaves on which flies become stuck; especially, the silenes or campions.
“What on earth did you put in that stuff?” “Bug-bane, barren-wort, penny-cress and blood-root, catchfly, toad-flax, nap-weed and wormwood,” said Catweazle.
1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 177
Synonyms & antonyms
nounmostly perennial herbs with sticky stems that catch insects; widespread in north temperate zone
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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
catchfly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catchfly
MLA
“catchfly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catchfly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “catchfly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catchfly.
Source: catchfly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.