Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various small, wingless, bloodsucking insects of the order Siphonaptera that have legs adapted for jumping and are parasitic on warm-blooded animals.
- n. Any of various small crustaceans that resemble or move like fleas, such as the water flea.
- idiom. a flea in (one's) ear An annoying hint or a stinging rebuke.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An insect of the genus Pulex, regarded by entomologists as representing a distinct order Aphaniptera, so called because the wings are inconspicuous scales. All the species of the genus are very similar to the common flea. P. irritans, which has two eyes and six long and stout legs, feelers like threads, and the oral appendages modified info piercing stylets and a suctorial proboscis. The flea is remarkable for its agility, making longer leaps in proportion to its size than any other animal, and its bite is very troublesome.
- n. plural The family Pulicidæ, or order Aphaniptera. See these words.
- n. A flea-beetle; a saltatorial beetle of the genus Haltica, as H. nemorum, which injures the turnip, and is also called turnip-flea and turnip-fly.
- n. Any amphipod crustacean which jumps like a flea; a sandhopper; a scud. See beach-flea.
- To clear of fleas.
- An obsolete form of flay.
Wiktionary
- n. A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.
- n. A thing of no significance.
- v. Obsolete spelling of flay.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. obsolete To flay.
- n. (Zoöl.) An insect belonging to the genus Pulex, of the order Aphaniptera. Fleas are destitute of wings, but have the power of leaping energetically. The bite is poisonous to most persons. The human flea (Pulex irritans), abundant in Europe, is rare in America, where the dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis, formerly Pulex canis) and the smaller cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) take its place. See aphaniptera, and dog flea. See
Illustration in Appendix.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any wingless bloodsucking parasitic insect noted for ability to leap
Etymologies
- Alternative forms. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English fle, from Old English flēah. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They ridiculed them for pursuing what they called a flea circus.”
“They occasionally escape from headquarters or get distracted by discarded e-brains they find in flea markets.”
“Inside you'll find a scene he characterizes as a flea market, with individuals bidding on big cats for "canned hunts.”
Keith Thomson: It's Not Just Chimps: Americans Have 7,000 Pet Tigers
“But the Recording Industry Assn. of America and the Motion Picture Assn. of America say they sometimes need to use subterfuge as they pursue bootleggers in flea markets and on the Internet.”
“Jewish culture in flea markets, used records stores, and auctions all over.”
“Counterfeiters and duplicators snap them up and hours later, faithful copies, often complete with look-alike packaging, are being peddled on street corners and in flea-markets.”
“Pirate VCDs of Lord of the Rings are already for sale in flea-markets in the UK (and hence are presumably available for download on Morpheus and Gnutella).”
“John Donahoe what was it you call the flea market crowd?”
“But after a trick play in the first minute of the second quarter, called a flea-flicker, resulted in his being sacked by three Giants, including all-pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor, Theismann was left sprawled on the bermuda grass of RFK, his lower leg pinned under his body.”
The Washington Post: Strasburg, Theismann and D.C. sports injuries
“When considering the above military budget, these countries are threats to the U. S in the same way that a flea is a threat to an elephant.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘flea’.
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animals (1 syllable)
A list of common animal names. Keep the list to 1 syllable words.No scientific names. No proper names like 'Fluffy' the elephant.Insects and other creatures (even ficticious) are welcome!You can ...
dog, cat, bear, bee, ass, ape, horse, squid, bug, hare, hawk, pig and 138 more...
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That's right, another list
muck-a-muck, ipse dixit, solipsism, anticlinal, analogical, amoral, alogical, synclinal, disinclined, iconological, studly, flitch and 179 more...
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Poetrie: "For I Will Consider My Cat ...
An excerpt from Jubilate Agno, written by Christopher Smart between 1759 and 1763 during his confinement for "lunacy" at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethnal Green, London.
For I will...consider, cat, jeoffry, servant, living god, duly, worship, wreathing, elegant quickness, leaps up, musk, blessing and 145 more...
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Chromonyms
These chromonyms are defined as colors in at least one dictionary (mostly MW3). (Actually there's one fake, for reasons I'll explain someday.) They are all one-word nouns such as "kelly", which can...
absinthe, acacia, acorn, alabaster, alesan, almond, aloma, amaranth, amber, amethyst, anemone, anil and 821 more...
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lilliput
ladybug, papermite, silverfish, mote, miniscule, micro, protozoa, fragment, ion, proton, neutrino, neutron and 18 more...
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f by four
four, five, free, fair, fund, flee, flea, flue, felt, farm, fuzz, flex and 52 more...
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Poetrie: Nelson, My Dog
by Gary Soto
Like the cat he scratches the flea camping in fur.
Unlike the cat he delights in water up to his ears.
He frolics. He catches a crooked stick--
On his ...cat, scratches, flea, delights, water, frolics, crooked stick, naps, shudders awake, responds, head to tail, happiness and 87 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for flea.
oroboros flea: circus employee? Aug 25, 2008
reesetee Heehee. :-) Sep 11, 2007
oroboros A flea and a fly in a flue
Imprisoned, said, "What can we do?"
"Let us flee," said the fly,
"Let us fly," said the flea,
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
--Tongue Twisters and Tricky Tanglers by Duncan Emrich Sep 11, 2007