| 1. | Also called cantharides. a preparation of powdered blister beetles, esp. the Spanish fly, used medicinally as a counterirritant, diuretic, and aphrodisiac. |
| 2. | Also, Span⋅ish⋅fly. Also called cantharis. a common European blister beetle, Cantharis (Lytta) vesicatoria, that yields this preparation. |
can·tha·ris  (kān'thər-ĭs)  n. pl. can·thar·i·des (kān-thār'ĭ-dēz') In both senses also called Spanish fly.
[Latin cantharis, cantharid-, from Greek kantharis, from kantharos.] |
| Spanish fly n. See cantharis. |