bluebottle

American  

[bloo-bot-l] / ˈbluˌbɒt 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.

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bluebottle British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of bluebottle

First recorded in 1545–55; blue + bottle ¹

Example Sentences

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.

From New York Times • Apr. 10, 2022

Elm Farm has produced bluebottle larvae for decades, as bait for recreational fishers.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 14, 2015

Kai Kupferschmidt Mick Grant, a farmer in the United Kingdom, has long raised bluebottle larvae for anglers.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 14, 2015

The morning I stood on the bend of the stairs and watched a spider trap then eat a bluebottle.

From The Guardian • Jun. 1, 2012

In poor neighborhoods garbage mounded in alleys and overflowed giant trash boxes that became banquet halls for rats and bluebottle flies.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson