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blister beetle definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: beetle that produces a secretion that blisters the skin [syn: blister beetle, meloid]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1816 a beetle (as the Spanish fly) used medicinally dried and powdered to raise blisters on the skin; broadly any of a family (Meloidae) of soft-bodied beetles whose blood contains cantharidin

Britannica Concise

Any of approximately 2,000 species of beetles (family Meloidae) that secrete an irritating substance, cantharidin, which is used medically as a topical skin irritant to remove warts. In the past, cantharidin was often used for inducing blisters, a common remedy for many ailments, and the dried remains of Spanish fly (Lytta vesicatoria) were a major ingredient in so-called love potions. Adult blister beetles, which are often brightly colored, range between 0.1 and 0.8 in. (3-20 mm) in length. Blister beetles are both helpful and harmful to humans; the larvae eat grasshopper eggs, but the adults destroy crops.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blister Blis"ter, n. [OE.; akin to OD. bluyster, fr. the same root as blast, bladder, blow. See Blow to eject wind.] 1. A vesicle of the skin, containing watery matter or serum, whether occasioned by a burn or other injury, or by a vesicatory; a collection of serous fluid causing a bladderlike elevation of the cuticle. And painful blisters swelled my tender hands. --Grainger. 2. Any elevation made by the separation of the film or skin, as on plants; or by the swelling of the substance at the surface, as on steel. 3. A vesicatory; a plaster of Spanish flies, or other matter, applied to raise a blister. --Dunglison. Blister beetle, a beetle used to raise blisters, esp. the Lytta (or Cantharis) vesicatoria, called Cantharis or Spanish fly by druggists. See Cantharis. Blister fly, a blister beetle. Blister plaster, a plaster designed to raise a blister; -- usually made of Spanish flies. Blister steel, crude steel formed from wrought iron by cementation; -- so called because of its blistered surface. Called also blistered steel. Blood blister. See under Blood.