bluebottle
/blˈubˌɔtəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.66 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A cornflower, a plant that grows in grain fields, Centaurea cyanus.
noun
Any of various blowflies of the genus Calliphora that have an iridescent metallic-blue body and make a loud buzzing noise when flying.
noun
Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium, also called triangles, etc.
noun
A marine jellyfish of the genus Physalia, which includes Physalia physalis, the Portuguese man-of-war, and Physalia utriculus, the Pacific man-of-war; a man-of-war.
Example Sentences
- "The flies that troubled me most were a large kind of blue-bottle or blow-fly. These settled in swarms on my bird skins when first put out to dry, filling their plumage with masses of eggs, which, if neglected, the next day produced maggots."
- "The incredibly long body as well as the extended wings were of a gleaming purplish-gray colour: I can only liken it to that of a meat fly or common "bluebottle"."
- "He could imagine the dead blue-bottles being hastily swept out for the summer let and the stale rooms briefly aired by a cleaning woman sent by the estate agent in Royale."
- "I will have you as soundly swing’d for this, you bluebottle rogue!"
- "[…] comic writers […] have never failed to make capital out of the New Police, Peel's Raw-Lobsters, Peelers, Blue Bottles, &c., &c."
- "COOMBE: He got the clinch only last week — eighteen months. You see it's no good having anybody here as ain't got a^([sic]) unblemished character. We don't want to have the bluebottles come sniffing round here, do we?"
Etymology
From Middle English blewbothel, from blew (“blue”) + bothel (“flower in the Asteraceae family”). In sense 2, a shortening of bluebottle fly. The fly was so named because it resembles the bluebottle flower in colour. The other transferred senses likewise have reference to the colour of the respective referents.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: blewbothel
Usage
- Australian usage
- British usage
- Derogatory
- Slang
- Obsolete
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Law.
Inflected Forms
Phrases
blue-bottle fly