cantharides

American  

[kan-thar-i-deez] / kænˈθær ɪˌdiz /

plural noun

singular

cantharis

1. Spanish fly.

2. cantharis. Spanish fly.

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cantharides British  

/ kænˈθærɪˌdiːz /

plural noun

1. Also called: Spanish fly.  a diuretic and urogenital stimulant or irritant prepared from the dried bodies of Spanish fly (family Meloidae, not Cantharidae ), once thought to be an aphrodisiac

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Etymology

Origin of cantharides

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin, plural of cantharis < Greek kantharís blister fly

Example Sentences

M. M. Tincture of cantharides, opium, alum, sorbentia.

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

As early as 1826, Bretonneau, by the introduction of tincture of cantharides and olive oil into the trachea, succeeded in producing a "dense, elastic, reed-like membranous concretion."

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

What are the singular forms of cantharides, ph�nomena, and data?

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

Experiments are wanting to introduce some acrid application into practice instead of cantharides, which might not induce the strangury.

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

Diuretics, as neutral salts, fixed alcali, balsams, resins, asparagus, cantharides.

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus