About The Word Gadfly

Bay Area Crosswords

Learn about the word Gadfly to help solve your crossword puzzle. Discover Gadfly definitions and meaning, origins, synonyms, related terms and more at the free Crossword Dictionary.

Gadfly

Gadfly Meaning & Definition
Gadfly Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Gadfly?

[n] any of various large flies that annoy livestock
[n] a persistently annoying person

Synonyms | Synonyms for Gadfly: blighter | cuss | pest | pesterer

Related Terms | Find terms related to Gadfly: abettor | actuator | animator | cajoler | coax | coaxer | encourager | energizer | firer | gad | galvanizer | goad | impeller | inducer | inspirer | lash | mover | moving spirit | oxgoad | persuader | pleader | prick | prime mover | prod | prompter | rowel | spark | spark plug | sparker | spur | stimulator | sting | tempter | wheedler | whip | whiplash

See Also | botfly | cleg | clegg | fly | horse fly | horsefly | nudnick | nudnik | persecutor | tormenter | tormentor | warble fly

Gadfly In Webster's Dictionary

\Gad"fly`\, n.; pl. {Gadflies}. [Gad + fly.] (Zo["o]l.) Any dipterous insect of the genus {Oestrus}, and allied genera of botflies. Note: The sheep gadfly ({Oestrus ovis}) deposits its young in the nostrils of sheep, and the larv[ae] develop in the frontal sinuses. The common species which infests cattle ({Hypoderma bovis}) deposits its eggs upon or in the skin where the larv[ae] or bots live and produce sores called wormels. The gadflies of the horse produce the intestinal parasites called bots. See {Botfly}, and {Bots}. The true horseflies are often erroneously called gadflies, and the true gadflies are sometimes incorrectly called breeze flies. {Gadfly petrel} (Zo["o]l.), one of several small petrels of the genus {Oestrelata}.

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