blowfly

British

/ ˈbləʊˌflaɪ /

noun

Also called: bluebottle. any of various dipterous flies of the genus Calliphora and related genera that lay their eggs in rotting meat, dung, carrion, and open wounds: family Calliphoridae

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It is the larval, or maggot, stage of a metallic-looking blowfly known as Cochliomyia hominivorax.

From Science Daily • Dec. 17, 2025

While many blowfly species are attracted to it, the lure is also effective at drawing in the New World screwworm.

From Science Daily • Dec. 17, 2025

"It could have been DNA from a blowfly," Holmes says.

From Salon • Nov. 2, 2021

“Brother of the blowfly… no one gets to heaven without going through you first.”

From Scientific American • Dec. 20, 2012

Then he lunged his fork desperately at a blowfly that persistently hovered about his plate, and commenced.

From On Our Selection by Rudd, Steele

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023