deer fly
1
6.1
- noun
- /dɪr flaɪ/
- Jargon
- He tied a bright deer fly to his line to attract trout near the stream.
Examples
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Using a deer fly can be effective when fish are feeding on insects near the water's surface.
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The angler selected a deer fly from his tackle box for the afternoon fishing trip.
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The fisherman used a deer fly to catch trout.
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I've never seen a deer fly used in fishing before.
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He tied a bright deer fly to his line to attract trout near the stream.
-
The angler selected a deer fly from his tackle box for the afternoon fishing trip.
-
Using a deer fly can be effective when fish are feeding on insects near the water's surface.
Synonyms
53
7.9
A small artificial insect used to catch fish
1
6.7
A small fake insect that floats on the water to attract fish
1
9.4
A man-made fly used by people who fish to look like a small insect near water
1
7.4
An artificial bait that sinks and moves below the water to attract fish
1
9.4
A type of fishing fly with a head of deer hair that looks like a small fish
1
8.9
A fishing lure with long wings that extend past the hook to look like a small fish
1
8.9
A small fishing bait made to look like an adult moth-like water insect
Surface Forms
Morphology
deer + fly
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where 'deer' modifies 'fly' to indicate a type of fly (originally an insect) or a fly imitation related to deer; a B1 learner who knows 'deer' and 'fly' can infer it denotes a specific kind of fly or fly-pattern. The formation is compositional and follows common cross-linguistic modifier+head patterns, so the meaning is directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Deer fly as a fishing lure is named because the fake fly is made to copy the insect deer fly. Fishermen use it 'to attract fish', so the name tells you it is a fake insect used in fly-fishing.