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meloid

[mel-oid]
See more synonyms for meloid on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a beetle of the family Meloidae, comprising the blister beetles.
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adjective
  1. belonging or pertaining to the family Meloidae.
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Origin of meloid

1875–80; < New Latin Meloidae name of the family, equivalent to Melo(ē) type genus + -idae -id2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for meloid

Historical Examples

  • I really had before my eyes the pseudochrysalis of some Meloid.

    The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles

    Jean Henri Fabre

  • I was therefore firmly convinced that the parasite of the Mantis-hunters could only be a Meloid.

  • And behold, the law of the Meloid has to be struck off the statutes, a fate common to many others, as this chapter will prove.

  • This is indeed a Meloid, a true Meloid, one of the strangest anomalies among the parasites of its tribe.

  • The Meloid seems to be revolving in a circle: it undoes what it has just done, it draws back after advancing.

British Dictionary definitions for meloid

meloid

noun
  1. any long-legged beetle of the family Meloidae, which includes the blister beetles and oil beetles
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Meloidae
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Word Origin

C19: from New Latin Meloē name of genus
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