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

There was some danger of an absorption of the cantharides into the system, which might do more of general harm than would justify an attempt at local good.

From Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and Powders Cogitations and Confessions of an Aged Physician by Alcott, William A. (William Andrus)

Secretion of subcutaneous mucus is increased by blisters of cantharides, by application of a thin slice of the fresh root of white briony, by sinapisms, by root of horse-radish, cochlearia armoracia.

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

A dangerous compound of the latter sort introduced during the first epidemic of cholera in this country became officinal under the name of liniment of cantharides.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Does a man ever forget the cantharides when he has a blister on his back?

From The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. II by Lever, Charles James

It is generally owing to a stone in the sphincter of the bladder; or to the inflammation of the neck of it occasioned by cantharides.

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