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bluebottle

[bloo-bot-l]
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noun
  1. cornflower(def 1).
  2. a composite plant, Centaurea cyanus, having narrow leaves and blue flower heads.
  3. bluebottle fly.
  4. Australian. Portuguese man-of-war.

Origin of bluebottle

First recorded in 1545–55; blue + bottle1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bluebottle

Historical Examples

  • A bluebottle buzzed about the ceiling; a slant of sunlight crossed the floor.

    A Son of Hagar

    Sir Hall Caine

  • The bluebottle fly or the goldfish became as easy as saying "Eureka!"

    Mr. Wicker's Window

    Carley Dawson

  • The house-fly and the bluebottle fly also belong to the order of the Diptera.

  • Five hundred a year,” he murmured, “to be henchman to a bluebottle!

    Jacob's Ladder

    E. Phillips Oppenheim

  • I next place in the cage a bluebottle, one only, to avoid confusion.

    The Life of the Fly

    J. Henri Fabre

British Dictionary definitions for bluebottle

bluebottle

noun
  1. another name for the blowfly
  2. any of various blue-flowered plants, esp the cornflower
  3. British an informal word for a policeman
  4. Australian and NZ an informal name for Portuguese man-of-war
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012