horsefly Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun winged fly parasitic on horses
    Hippobosca equina; horse tick.
  2. noun large swift fly the female of which sucks blood of various animals
    clegg; horse fly; cleg.

WordNet

Horse"fly` noun
Wordforms
plural Horseflies
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) Any dipterous fly of the family Tabanidæ, that stings horses, and sucks their blood. ✍ Of these flies there are numerous species, both in Europe and America. They have a large proboscis with four sharp lancets for piercing the skin. Called also breeze fly. See Illust. under Diptera, and Breeze fly.
  2. (Zoöl.) The horse tick or forest fly (Hippobosca).

Webster 1913