bluebottle

[bloo-bot-l]

noun

1. cornflower.

2. a composite plant, Centaurea cyanus, having narrow leaves and blue flower heads.

3. bluebottle fly.

4. Australian.,  Portuguese man-of-war.

bluebottle

/ ˈbluːˌbɒtəl /

noun

1. another name for the blowfly

2. any of various blue-flowered plants, esp the cornflower

3. an informal word for a policeman

4. an informal name for Portuguese man-of-war

Word History and Origins

Origin of bluebottle¹

First recorded in 1545–55; blue + bottle ¹

Example Sentences

"It could also attract vermin into our houses as well as flies and bluebottles."

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My mother laughed at me one fateful beach day as she pulled a Pacific man o’ war jellyfish — known in Australia as a bluebottle — from my body as I screamed.

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“Oh baby,” he said, after I shouted at that bluebottle, “you’re so terrified by the world.”

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He loathed bluebottles, rocking chairs and the washing machine on spin.

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"Due to the northeasterly winds, we will continue to see bluebottles hanging around," the agency said in a separate post.

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