horse fly

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noun

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

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Origin of horse fly

1350–1400; Middle English horsfleeye

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use horse fly in a sentence

As much human affection as you can squeeze out of the60 hind foot of a horsefly!
The Wasted Generation|Owen Johnson
In spite of the humid atmosphere, a buzzing like that of a horsefly, hummed several times above the two visitors.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Vicente Blasco Ibanez
The common horsefly, which is so troublesome in the shady lanes of England, belongs to this same genus.
A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World|Charles Darwin
A horsefly (hoane) lived there at the edge of the mesa in a cavity.
Seven Mohave Myths|A. L. Kroeber

Tabanidae viridis was not sent just to plague us with horsefly bites.
Tabby|Winston Marks

British Dictionary definitions for horse fly

horsefly

/ (ˈhɔːsˌflaɪ) /

noun plural -flies

any large stout-bodied dipterous fly of the family Tabanidae, the females of which suck the blood of mammals, esp horses, cattle, and manAlso called: gadfly, cleg

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012