cantharides

American  

[kan-thar-i-deez] / kænˈθær ɪˌdiz /

plural noun

singular

cantharis

1. Spanish fly.

2. cantharis. Spanish fly.

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cantharides British  

/ kænˈθærɪˌdiːz /

plural noun

1. Also called: Spanish fly.  a diuretic and urogenital stimulant or irritant prepared from the dried bodies of Spanish fly (family Meloidae, not Cantharidae ), once thought to be an aphrodisiac

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Etymology

Origin of cantharides

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin, plural of cantharis < Greek kantharís blister fly

Example Sentences

Powdered capsicums and cantharides have also seemed to touch the disease; but no one medicine has to me appeared to have any specific influence over it.

From The Dog by Dinks

Secretion of mucus of the bladder is increased by cantharides, by spirit of turpentine?

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

The mucus of the bladder is increased by cantharides, and perhaps by oil of turpentine.

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

It is very rich in cantharidin, yielding fully twice as much as ordinary cantharides.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various

Of blisters, those containing cantharides are most effective.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry