greenfly
1
6.8
- noun
- /ˈɡriːn.flaɪ/
- UK
- Roses, greenfly, spray, syringe!
Examples
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And we despair a little when it comes to ants and greenflies or lice, but we're amateur photographers, too, and whenever a bee is in the buds, my boyfriend jumps for the macro filter.
Blog text (9) -
To protect the vegetables, she used a natural spray to eliminate the greenfly infesting her garden.
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Have you ever studied the tiny pattern on a greenfly's wing?
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If the hall toilets were often choked and unusable, they were still used, for they were a step up from an outhouse buzzing with greenflies.
Fiction book (1995) -
The gardener noticed a few greenfly on the leaves of the rose bushes, indicating they needed treatment.
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Because the greenfly were so numerous, the plants started to look wilted and unhealthy.
Synonyms
16
5.6
A small insect that sucks sap from plants and often damages them
1
8.4
A small green insect that eats peach trees and other crops, often damaging them
1
7.9
A small insect that makes a white, cotton-like covering on plants
A small green insect that eats apple tree leaves and makes them curl
A small dark insect that lives on plants and eats their sap
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word greenfly is simply the compound green + fly, meaning a 'green' insect. Gardeners use it for the small green aphids that eat leaves and can damage plants.