canker fly

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word canker fly. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word canker fly, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say canker fly in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word canker fly you have here. The definition of the word canker fly will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofcanker fly, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Alternative forms

canker-fly

Noun

canker fly (plural canker flies)

  1. (archaic) A fly that feeds on fruit.
    • 1845 [1796], Edward Henry Noel, transl., Flower, Fruit and Thorn Pieces: Or, The Married Life, Death, and Wedding of the Advocate of the Poor, Firmian Stanislaus Sibenkas̈, translation of original by Jean Paul, page 240:
      Siebenkäs, in a voice of wrath, now turned bis seat of judgment into a penitent's stool for the Venner, abusing him as a canker-fly of female buds, a dove-hawk, a house-breaker of the treasures of marriage.
    • 1866, Rowland Williams, The Hebrew Prophets Translated Afresh from the Original, page 21:
      And I requite to you the years which the locust ate, the canker-fly, and the fledged locust, and the young locust, my great host which I sent among you.
    • 1910 [1831], anonymous translator, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, translation of original by Victor Hugo, page 176:
      That gnawing canker-fly, the printed book, sucks the life-blood out of the great stone pile.
    • 1890, Great Britain. Foreign Office, Diplomatic and Consular Reports: Annual series, page 21:
      In many districts, moreover, the appearance of the "canker" fly had a very prejudicial effect upon the quality of the oil.

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia