Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various flies from the family Syrphidae that hover in the air and feed on the nectar of flowers.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

hover +‎ fly

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Examples

  • So, the hoverfly is a pollinator and beneficial insect.

    Grist - the Latest from Grist 2009

  • So, the hoverfly is a pollinator and beneficial insect.

    Grist - the Latest from Grist 2009

  • So, the hoverfly is a pollinator and beneficial insect.

    Grist - the Latest from Grist 2009

  • I've since learned this is a type of hoverfly, a species that specializes in flowers and is an important pollination agent for plants not serviced by bees or butterflies.

    Archive 2010-04-01 2010

  • I've since learned this is a type of hoverfly, a species that specializes in flowers and is an important pollination agent for plants not serviced by bees or butterflies.

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke's Gibberish 2010

  • This floral extravaganza, splashed across the green canvas of a meadow, has been shaped and coloured, magnified and titivated by the past choices made by animal eyes: bee eyes, butterfly eyes, hoverfly eyes.

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • This floral extravaganza, splashed across the green canvas of a meadow, has been shaped and coloured, magnified and titivated by the past choices made by animal eyes: bee eyes, butterfly eyes, hoverfly eyes.

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • She had a hoverfly (waspy looking), two craneflies (mosquitoey looking), a giant tarantula hawk wasp, and a delicate baby scorpion.

    The Higher Power of Lucky Susan Patron 2006

  • She had a hoverfly (waspy looking), two craneflies (mosquitoey looking), a giant tarantula hawk wasp, and a delicate baby scorpion.

    The Higher Power of Lucky Susan Patron 2006

  • A curious shrill noise came from her, like the screaming of a gnat or hoverfly; but no words, never any words.

    Lore of Proserpine Maurice Hewlett 1892

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