gadfly

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Q: You've been called a gadfly, a consumer activist.

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.
  2. noun One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.
  3. noun Any of various flies, especially of the family Tabanidae, that bite or annoy livestock and other animals.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

 

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This word has been looked up 152 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. gad2 + fly2.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from gad + fly. Cf. gad and gadbee in the same sense.
 

Pronunciations
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/ˈgædflai/
by American Heritage

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