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vinegar fly

American  

noun

  1. any fly of the family Drosophilidae, the larvae of which feed on decaying fruit and vegetation.

vinegar fly British  

noun

  1. any of various dipterous flies of the genus Drosophila See drosophila

"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

Etymology

Origin of vinegar fly

First recorded in 1900–05

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.

The migratory locust is not a model organism like the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster.

From Science Daily • Jun. 18, 2024

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.