Adjacent Words

cantharides definitions

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Oxford Reference Dictionary

n.pl. a preparation made from dried bodies of a beetle Lytta vesicatoria, causing blistering of the skin and formerly used in medicine and as an aphrodisiac. Also called Spanish fly. Etymology: L f. Gk kantharis Spanish fly

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cantharides Can*thar"i*des, n. pl. See Cantharis.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cantharis Can"tha*ris, n.; pl. Cantharides. [L., a kind of beetle, esp. the Spanish fly, Gr. kanqari`s.] (Zo["o]l.) A beetle (Lytta, or Cantharis, vesicatoria), havin1g an elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green color, and a nauseous odor; the blister fly or blister beetle, of the apothecary; -- also called Spanish fly. Many other species of Lytta, used for the same purpose, take the same name. See Blister beetle, under Blister. The plural form in usually applied to the dried insects used in medicine.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. pl. See spanish-fly.