Dogfly
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A bloodsucking fly, Stomoxys calcitrans; stablefly.
"And behoulding a great multitude of the enemies, he wiſhed them no other harme, but only that ſwarmes of gnats and dogflies might be ſent among them, that feeling the ſtinges of thoſe ſmall creatures, they might acknowledg the power of him that aided the Romanes. When this petition was made vnto God, preſently whole cloudes of gnats and dogflies couered the Perſiã army,[…]."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"And behoulding a great multitude of the enemies, he wiſhed them no other harme, but only that ſwarmes of gnats and dogflies might be ſent among them, that feeling the ſtinges of thoſe ſmall creatures, they might acknowledg the power of him that aided the Romanes. When this petition was made vnto God, preſently whole cloudes of gnats and dogflies couered the Perſiã army,[…]."
Etymology
From Middle English dogflye, dogge flie, equivalent to dog + fly, chiefly after post-classical Latin cynomyia and its etymon Ancient Greek κυνάμυια (kunámuia) (in Hellenistic Greek κυνόμυια (kunómuia)). Compare Old English hundes lūs.
More for "dogfly"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.