horse fly

noun

1. any bloodsucking, usually large fly of the family Tabanidae, especially of the genus Tabanus, a serious pest of horses, cattle, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of horse fly¹

1350–1400; Middle English horsfleeye

Example Sentences

Everything else is on Harris, including athlete’s feet and horse flies.

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At the president’s direction, the attorney general is investigating members of the FBI who have investigated the corruption that surrounds Trump like a cloud of horse flies.

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In the meantime, people planning on being around horses or horse flies may want to consider wearing zebra print rather than a solid to avoid being bitten.

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Researchers on Wednesday described experiments demonstrating that horse flies have a difficult time landing on zebras while easily landing on uniformly colored horses.

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There is a wasp named after William Shakespeare, a horse fly named after Beyoncé and a lichen named after Dolly Parton.

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