catch flies

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

catch flies

verb catches flies · catching flies · caught flies

idiomatic To have one's mouth wide open for a prolonged period. You'd better close your mouth; are you trying to catch flies?
informal Of an actor: to distract the audience by moving or gesturing when the focus should be elsewhere.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see catch, fly.

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"catch flies." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/catch%20flies. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

catch flies. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/catch%20flies

Chicago

"catch flies." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/catch%20flies.

BibTeX

@misc{catch_flies_2026,
  title = {catch flies},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/catch%20flies},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}