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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bluebottle

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

But like a bluebottle repeatedly bashing its face against a windowpane, it continually tries and fails to turn him into yet another easily digested celebrity.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2012

There was a bluebottle buzzing around, and for a minute we had a laugh playing “blue bottle tennis,” throwing our hands about to make the demented creature go from one to the other of us.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

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