black fly
1
6.6
- noun
- /blæk flaɪ/
:
mosca negra
- The entire family was there, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, sweating under the Midwestern sun while the black flies bit our ankles.
- swarm of black flies
- black fly bites
- little black flies
Examples
-
During our hike, we were constantly swatting away black flies that attacked our arms and legs.
-
Plus, the black flies were after him again.
Fiction book (1998) -
All along his escape route, he was pursued by an insane crew of black flies.
Fiction book (1998) -
His father mashed a black fly that had landed on his wrist.
Fiction book (1994) -
Black flies circled his hands and a sugar donut on his desk.
Fiction book (1990) -
The black flies were covering Stuart's neck and face and the backs of his hands by the time he and his father reached the edge of the pasture, following the wide trail of flattened grass that ended at a pile of rough posts.
Fiction book (1994) -
What is limiting caribou may be hordes of black flies that swarm through the Boreal in spring and summer, seeking blood in every nook and cranny.
Academic text (2012) -
The picnic was somewhat ruined by the presence of black flies buzzing around the food.
-
When I sat outside, a black fly bit my ankle, leaving an itchy mark.
Synonyms
1
8.0
A small dark fly that bites animals and people to drink their blood
A small black fly that bites people and animals, often near water
A group of small dark flies called blackflies
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is compositionally built from 'black' (color) + 'fly' (insect), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer it denotes a dark-colored fly. The specialized entomological details (family Simuliidae, biting habit) are additional encyclopedic information but do not prevent the basic meaning being transparently derived from the constituents.
Etymology
Black fly comes from the insect's look: the word black means dark and the word fly means a small flying insect. These tiny dark flies often bite and make people itchy, so the name now means 'a small dark biting fly'.