noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A sticky substance, of varying compositions, smeared on branches to catch birds. uncountable
2. 2
   a sticky adhesive that is smeared on small branches to capture small birds wordnet
3. 3
   Time; a jail term, the serving of a prison sentence. slang, uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   To add birdlime to. transitive
2. 2
   spread birdlime on branches to catch birds wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

adhesivebaitbirdgluecatchcobwebdecoy

Etymology

Partial calque of German Vogelleim. By surface analysis, bird + lime.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.