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tsetse

tsetse

3 9.9
A large African fly that sucks blood and spreads sleeping sickness to people and animals
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛtsi/
  • South African
translation icon : mosca tse-tse
  • The visual system of the tsetse fly is particularly sensitive to large blocks of contrasting color.
  • tsetse fly
  • tsetse control
  • tsetse eradication

Examples

  • At least 150,000 square kilometers of Ethiopia's land mass are tsetse-infested, and some 10 million cattle face the threat of tsetse-transmitted disease.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Drive out the tsetse fly and the whole landscape changes.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Come on, little tsetse fly.

  • Various approaches, many ecologically damaging, have been used in attempts to control tsetse.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Tsetse makes large areas of tropical Africa uninhabitable by cattle and hostile to humans.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Only one species of tsetse fly was found to inhabit the Zanzibar island of Unguja.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Although the Department of Conservation made efforts to get rid of the tsetse fly menace through massive spraying campaigns, the fly was never completely eliminated.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Along this stretch of road, we were bitten by Tsetse flies, especially around the ankles—an unpleasant experience.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Sebungwe was a large, remote, and tsetse fly-ridden district bordering the Zambezi in the northwest of Rhodesia.

    Academic text (2005)
  • In Africa, the tsetse fly is known for spreading diseases like sleeping sickness to both humans and animals.

Synonyms

tsetse fly
vstsetse
  • South African
1 8.7

A large African fly that bites people and animals and causes sleeping sickness

is the same name written as a single shorter form
glossina
vstsetse
  • Specialized
9.9

A blood-sucking African fly that spreads sleeping sickness

is the common singular name for the same insect rather than the taxonomic genus

Compounds

tsetse fly
  • South African
1 8.7

A large African fly that bites people and animals and causes sleeping sickness

Surface Forms

tsetse singular
tsetse plural

Etymology

The word tsetse comes from a southern African language where tsetse simply meant 'fly'. That's why English uses this local name for the dangerous biting fly that spreads sleeping sickness.