Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various stout dipteran flies of the family Oestridae, having larvae that are parasitic on mammals, including livestock and sometimes humans.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A name given to dipterous insects of the family Œstridæ, the larvæ of which infest different parts of living animals. See bot.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A dipterous insect of the family (Estridæ, of many different species, some of which are particularly troublesome to domestic animals, as the horse, ox, and sheep, on which they deposit their eggs. A common species is one of the botflies of the horse (Gastrophilus equi), the larvæ of which (bots) are taken into the stomach of the animal, where they live several months and pass through their larval states. In tropical America one species sometimes lives under the human skin, and another in the stomach. See gadfly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One of several dipterous insects of the family Oestridae, some of which are particularly troublesome to domestic animals on which they deposit their eggs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun stout-bodied hairy dipterous fly whose larvae are parasites on humans and other mammals

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The gruesome insect, called a botfly, lays its eggs on mosquitos which then bite humans, depositing the eggs under the skin, where they start to grow.

    HomePage - The Sun 2010

  • My favorite question to ask an IDC is whether or not Yahweh created such pleasant and wonderful creatures as the botfly or the candiru in their current form.

    More on Signature in the Cell - The Panda's Thumb 2010

  • My favorite question to ask an IDC is whether or not Yahweh created such pleasant and wonderful creatures as the botfly or the candiru in their current form.

    More on Signature in the Cell - The Panda's Thumb 2010

  • My favorite question to ask an IDC is whether or not Yahweh created such pleasant and wonderful creatures as the botfly or the candiru in their current form.

    More on Signature in the Cell - The Panda's Thumb 2010

  • My favorite question to ask an IDC is whether or not Yahweh created such pleasant and wonderful creatures as the botfly or the candiru in their current form.

    More on Signature in the Cell - The Panda's Thumb 2010

  • In the jar before us, a swatch of horse stomach lay at the bottom, studded with botfly larvae, a cluster of stony little hives.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

  • Fird littermate had abig horribul disgustifying botfly larva in himz neck taht teh nyse vet tech at teh shelter taked owt fur him, but it leeved him wif a open hole in hims throat, an him still smaller than teh uvvers an week an shaky an stuff, an needing sum eggstra TLC.

    No, no, you go on. - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2009

  • In the jar before us, a swatch of horse stomach lay at the bottom, studded with botfly larvae, a cluster of stony little hives.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

  • A botfly might regard a herd of cattle as a moving archipelago.

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • In the jar before us, a swatch of horse stomach lay at the bottom, studded with botfly larvae, a cluster of stony little hives.

    Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer 2009

Comments

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  • "During the summer, the animals take refuge in the high elevations to avoid the constant menace of botflies, warble flies, and mosquitoes."

    —James Campbell, The Final Frontiersman (New York and London: Atria Books, 2004), 265

    September 17, 2008

  • Sounds like a good book, chained_bear!

    September 17, 2008

  • It is. It's a really good book. :)

    September 17, 2008

  • US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906: Railroad telegraph term meaning "Seller will not pay brokerage; we must look to buyer for it."

    January 21, 2013