housefly

or house fly

[ hous-flahy ]

noun

, plural house·flies.

1. a medium-sized, gray-striped fly, Musca domestica, common around human habitations in nearly all parts of the world.

housefly

/ ˈhaʊsˌflaɪ /

noun

1. a common dipterous fly, Musca domestica, that frequents human habitations, spreads disease, and lays its eggs in carrion, decaying vegetables, etc: family Muscidae

Word History and Origins

Origin of housefly¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; house, fly ¹

Example Sentences

A microlens array between the camera lens and image sensor breaks the field down into multiple views, like the multi-part vision of a housefly.

From MIT Technology Review

Because of the air friction at these small sizes, those bristles allow the wings to have the flapping power of wings made of membranes, like those of a housefly, but for a lot less mass.

From Science News

There is the housefly, the lesser cabbage white butterfly, and one or two other little things.

From Project Gutenberg

We make a great fuss over a flea; hardly mention it in polite company; but we tolerate the dirty housefly on all our food.

From Project Gutenberg

I see him now in my mind's eye, making his annual appearance like a rheumatic housefly, stepping high like a blind horse.

From Project Gutenberg

They recalled the British housefly, only they were much larger, and extremely pugnacious.

From Project Gutenberg

The numbers and varieties of bacteria carried by the common housefly in sanitary and insanitary city areas.

From Project Gutenberg