Hypertext Webster Gateway: "gadfly"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Breeze \Breeze\, Breeze fly \Breeze" fly`\, n. [OE. brese, AS.
bri['o]sa; perh. akin to OHG. brimissa, G. breme, bremse, D.
brems, which are akin to G. brummen to growl, buzz, grumble,
L. fremere to murmur; cf. G. brausen, Sw. brusa, Dan. bruse,
to roar, rush.] (Zo["o]l.)
A fly of various species, of the family {Tabanid[ae]}, noted
for buzzing about animals, and tormenting them by sucking
their blood; -- called also {horsefly}, and {gadfly}. They
are among the largest of two-winged or dipterous insects. The
name is also given to different species of botflies. [Written
also {breese} and {brize}.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Gadfly \Gad"fly`\, n.; pl. {Gadflies}. [Gad + fly.] (Zo["o]l.)
Any dipterous insect of the genus {Oestrus}, and allied
genera of botflies.
Note: The sheep gadfly ({Oestrus ovis}) deposits its young in
the nostrils of sheep, and the larv[ae] develop in the
frontal sinuses. The common species which infests
cattle ({Hypoderma bovis}) deposits its eggs upon or in
the skin where the larv[ae] or bots live and produce
sores called wormels. The gadflies of the horse produce
the intestinal parasites called bots. See {Botfly}, and
{Bots}. The true horseflies are often erroneously
called gadflies, and the true gadflies are sometimes
incorrectly called breeze flies.
{Gadfly petrel} (Zo["o]l.), one of several small petrels of
the genus {Oestrelata}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
gadfly
n 1: a persistently annoying person [syn: {pest}, {blighter}, {cuss},
{pesterer}]
2: any of various large flies that annoy livestock
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