sandfly

[ sand-flahy ]

noun,plural sand·flies.
  1. any of several small, bloodsucking, dipterous insects of the family Psychodidae that are vectors of several diseases of humans.

  2. any of several other small, bloodsucking, dipterous insects, as one of the family Heleidae or Simuliidae.

Origin of sandfly

1
First recorded in 1675–85; sand + fly1

Words Nearby sandfly

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

How to use sandfly in a sentence

  • Another strange sight is the sandfly dance, in which a swarm of masked men make the air dark with their antics.

    Human Animals | Frank Hamel
  • Lieutenant Chimmo commanded the “sandfly,” surveying vessel.

  • By-and-by a sandfly settles on the back of some one's hand, and proceeds to browse.

    Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2) | William Delisle Hay

British Dictionary definitions for sandfly

sandfly

/ (ˈsændˌflaɪ) /


nounplural -flies
  1. any of various small mothlike dipterous flies of the genus Phlebotomus and related genera: the bloodsucking females transmit diseases including leishmaniasis: family Psychodidae

  2. any of various similar and related flies

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