bluebottle fly

American  

noun

1. any of several iridescent blue blow flies, especially those of the genus Calliphora, some of which are parasitic on domestic animals.

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Etymology

Origin of bluebottle fly

First recorded in 1710–20

Example Sentences

In Mrs. Timson "rage . . . fluttered wildly, like a bluebottle fly."

From Time Magazine Archive

Philip Marlowe's latest adventure began on a lovely summer day when Marlowe had nothing better to do than to stalk a bluebottle fly with a swatter.

From Time Magazine Archive

A later observation: that bone infections could be cured by the use of bluebottle fly maggots.

From Time Magazine Archive

With a physical meaning of soft to the touch, the word is used substantively of the maggot of the bluebottle fly, used as a bait by fishermen.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Her head throbbed dangerously. what matter to her that the king bird pitched jovially from the maples to catch a wandering bluebottle fly, that the robin was feeding its young, that the bobolink was singing?

From Main-Travelled Roads by Garland, Hamlin