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Definition of "horsefly" [horse•fly]

  • Any of numerous large flies of the family Tabanidae, the females of which suck the blood of various mammals. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "horsefly" in a sentence
  • "The common horsefly, which is so troublesome in the shady lanes of England, belongs to this same genus."
  • "For the last few days, the weather had been tolerably cool, and we had not been much troubled with musquitoes; instead, however, we were persecuted severely by a very large greyish kind of horsefly, with a huge proboscis for sucking up the blood."
  • "The "horsefly" or, in this case, my plastic bag and fishing rod, doesn't live in there."