Definition of "housefly" [house•fly]

• A common, widely distributed fly (Musca domestica) that frequents human dwellings, breeds in moist or decaying organic matter, and transmits a wide variety of diseases. (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.

• "This preserved housefly is sporting a pair of two-millimeter-wide eyeglasses, engineered with ultra-precise fast-pulse laser technology."
• "Generally speaking the housefly is very susceptible to DDT; unfortunately some fairly resistant species of fly have lately been observed."
• "One memory that returned with the persistence of a housefly was my recollection of the promise I had made to Grandmere Catherine should anything bad happen to her."