Adjacent Words

Gadfly definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GAD'FLY, n. An insect of the genus Oestrus, which stings cattle, and deposits its eggs in their skin; called also the breeze.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a persistently annoying person [syn: pest, blighter, cuss, pesterer, gadfly]
2: any of various large flies that annoy livestock

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: ¹gad Date: 1593 1. any of various flies (as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock 2. a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -flies) 1 a cattle-biting fly, esp. a warble fly, horsefly, or bot-fly. 2 an irritating or harassing person. Etymology: obs. gad goad, spike f. ON gaddr, rel. to YARD(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Breeze Breeze, Breeze fly Breeze" fly`, n. [OE. brese, AS. bri['o]sa; perh. akin to OHG. brimissa, G. breme, bremse, D. brems, which are akin to G. brummen to growl, buzz, grumble, L. fremere to murmur; cf. G. brausen, Sw. brusa, Dan. bruse, to roar, rush.] (Zo["o]l.) A fly of various species, of the family Tabanid[ae], noted for buzzing about animals, and tormenting them by sucking their blood; -- called also horsefly, and gadfly. They are among the largest of two-winged or dipterous insects. The name is also given to different species of botflies. [Written also breese and brize.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gadfly Gad"fly`, n.; pl. Gadflies. [Gad + fly.] (Zo["o]l.) Any dipterous insect of the genus Oestrus, and allied genera of botflies. Note: The sheep gadfly (Oestrus ovis) deposits its young in the nostrils of sheep, and the larv[ae] develop in the frontal sinuses. The common species which infests cattle (Hypoderma bovis) deposits its eggs upon or in the skin where the larv[ae] or bots live and produce sores called wormels. The gadflies of the horse produce the intestinal parasites called bots. See Botfly, and Bots. The true horseflies are often erroneously called gadflies, and the true gadflies are sometimes incorrectly called breeze flies. Gadfly petrel (Zo["o]l.), one of several small petrels of the genus Oestrelata.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gadflies) If you refer to someone as a gadfly, you believe that they deliberately annoy or challenge other people, especially people in authority. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Breese, horsefly, botfly.

Moby Thesaurus

abettor, actuator, animator, cajoler, coax, coaxer, encourager, energizer, firer, gad, galvanizer, goad, impeller, inducer, inspirer, lash, mover, moving spirit, oxgoad, persuader, pleader, prick, prime mover, prod, prompter, rowel, spark, spark plug, sparker, spur, stimulator, sting, tempter, wheedler, whip, whiplash