housefly

or house fly

[ hous-flahy ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural house·flies.

a medium-sized, gray-striped fly, Musca domestica, common around human habitations in nearly all parts of the world.

housefly

/ ˈhaʊsˌflaɪ /

a common dipterous fly, Musca domestica, that frequents human habitations, spreads disease, and lays its eggs in carrion, decaying vegetables, etc: family Muscidae

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; house, fly ¹

There is the housefly, the lesser cabbage white butterfly, and one or two other little things.

We make a great fuss over a flea; hardly mention it in polite company; but we tolerate the dirty housefly on all our food.

I see him now in my mind's eye, making his annual appearance like a rheumatic housefly, stepping high like a blind horse.

They recalled the British housefly, only they were much larger, and extremely pugnacious.

The numbers and varieties of bacteria carried by the common housefly in sanitary and insanitary city areas.

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