Something or someone that sticks (pierces, or adheres).
[…] and I said to Mr. McCauley, whatever is the matter with your neck, it is all swelled up, and he said he got it in the mill; he said he had an arm load of wool and a sticker stuck him in the neck, here (indicating the right hand side of the neck just below the jaw).1918, Decisions of the Courts of Pennsylvania (Supreme, Superior and Common Pleas), in Workmen's Compensation Cases, page 158:
The prisoner fell flat on his face. They dragged him again, this time towards the grove of calafates. They lifted him up there and they threw him in the middle of the bushes. The boy screamed. Thousands of stickers pierced into his flesh.1982, Fernando Alegria, Fernando Alegría, Chilean Writers in Exile: Eight Short Novels:
2 more examples
When the prickly pear stickers pierced their paws they howled with pain, but they kept running. Sinopa, who hated the fighting, had followed her brothers. She shot a magic arrow over their heads, which pushed the brothers to safety, […]2010, Valerie Estelle Frankel, From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine's Journey through Myth and Legend, McFarland, →ISBN, page 212:
He toppled backward, landing on a particularly large cholla and crying out as hundreds of stickers pierced his flesh.2013, Cathy McDavid, Cowboy for Keeps, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 118:
2
One who sticks to something, or does not give up; a stayer.
He's a sticker. He was a goer to the end in all he did — and in Rugger outstandingly […]1930, The Strand Magazine, volume 80, page 321:
3
An adhesive label or decal.
4
A price tag.
5
Broadly The listed price (also sticker price).
When buying a car, know the sticker and the invoice price.
6
Internet A cartoonish illustration of a character that represents an emotion or action, often accompanied by text, that may be superimposed on a digital image.
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Informal A burr or seed pod that catches in fur or clothing.
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Colloquial, Dated That which causes one to stick; that which puzzles or poses.
"That's what I call a sticker for Wagg!"1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
9
A wooden strip placed between courses of lumber to allow air circulation and to create a gap so the unit can be picked up with a forklift (also kiln sticker).
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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A small wooden rod in an organ which connects (in part) a key and a pallet, so as to communicate motion by pushing.
11
A brand, label, or company, especially one making and distributing records.
Etymology From stick (“to pierce, to be fastened, to adhere”) + -er (“agent”).
1
To apply one or more stickers to (something).
A tattooed camp staffer DJs from a heavily stickered laptop, next to a whirling party light that scatters rainbow beams throughout the space.2023 August 31, Frankie de la Cretaz, “Postcard from Camp Gaylore”, in Cosmopolitan:
2
To mark as the sticker price
Also out of Africa: a huge hammered copper floor mirror stickered at $449.2009 February 28, Rita Zekas, “DecoRita visits West Elm”, in Toronto Star: