gallfly

[ gawl-flahy ]

noun,plural gall·flies.

any of various insects that deposit their eggs in plants, causing the formation of galls.

Origin of gallfly

First recorded in 1815–25; gall³ + fly¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gallfly in a sentence

Oak-apples or galls are the round excrescences formed on the limbs by gallflies and their eggs.
American Forest Trees | Henry H. Gibson
This domestic arrangement calls to mind the curious family of gallflies.
My First Summer in the Sierra | John Muir

British Dictionary definitions for gallfly

gallfly

/ (ˈɡɔːlˌflaɪ) /

nounplural -flies

any of several small insects that produce galls in plant tissues, such as the gall wasp and gall midge

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

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