gadfly
1
9.4
- noun
- /ˈɡædˌflaɪ/
:
mosca
- "At the head of the Adriatic, the herd was stampeded by a gadfly.
Examples
-
Like a stinging gadfly on the back of a noble but sluggish horse, he is waking democracy up so that it can do its business more thoughtfully (30E-31A).
Academic text (2000) -
Night is closing fast, and his horse, stung with gadflies, can hardly take another step.
Fiction book (2001) -
At that same moment, the horse shakes his tail, sweeps it over his croup, and chases off a gadfly feeding on the delicate skin of the great scar.
Fiction book (1995) -
Gadflies longing to lay their eggs chased frantic herds of reindeer.
Fiction book (1994) -
The horse kicked wildly to shake off the gadfly that was biting its flank.
-
During the summer, gadflies can become a nuisance for livestock in the fields.
-
Farmers often use repellents to protect their animals from gadflies and other biting insects.
Synonyms
3
5.5
A large fly whose females bite horses and other animals to drink blood
1
9.9
A large hairy fly whose larvae grow under the skin of mammals and cause pain
Large biting flies like horseflies that give painful bites
A large fly whose young live in a horse's stomach and intestines and harm it
A group of flies whose young live inside the stomachs of horses and other animals
A large fly whose young live on sheep and make them itchy and sick
A large fly whose young live inside sheep and cause sickness
A hairy fly like a bee whose young insects make lumps under the skin of cows
A small fly near water that bites people and animals painfully
A small wingless fly that lives on sheep and drinks their blood
Compounds
How Annoying
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Gadfly originally named a fly that bites or worries animals, from gad meaning a 'goad' or 'pointed stick' and fly, so it is a fly that 'prods' or stings livestock and causes trouble for farmers.