mayfly
Americannoun
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Also called shadfly. any insect of the order Ephemeroptera, having delicate, membranous wings with the front pair much larger than the rear and having an aquatic larval stage and a terrestrial adult stage usually lasting less than two days.
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Angling. Also May fly an artificial fly made to resemble this insect.
noun
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Also called: dayfly. any insect of the order Ephemeroptera (or Ephemerida ). The short-lived adults, found near water, have long tail appendages and large transparent wings; the larvae are aquatic
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angling an artificial fly resembling this
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mayfly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dead ahead: maybe 75 dancers, mostly in their late teens and early 20s, others in their 30s and 40s, sweating it out in this mayfly, once-every-five-weeks discothèque.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 2023
Some would sip the mouse like a tiny mayfly; others would leap completely out of the water, grabbing the fly on the way down.
From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2021
He believes there is a direct correlation between sewage discharges and lower numbers of brown trout, grayling and invertebrates - animals without a backbone, including worms, snails and insects such as mayfly.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2021
Crappie are slow due to the mayfly hatch and should return to normal numbers in 2-3 weeks.
From Washington Times • Jul. 8, 2020
Here, I am the strange one, with my blunt fingers, round ears, and mayfly life.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
