fruit fly
Americannoun
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any of numerous small dipterous insects of the family Tephritidae, the larvae of which feed on the fruit of various plants.
noun
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any small dipterous fly of the family Trypetidae , which feed on and lay their eggs in plant tissues See also gallfly
-
any dipterous fly of the genus Drosophila See drosophila
Etymology
Origin of fruit fly
First recorded in 1745–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The researchers investigated how caffeine consumed at different times of day influences inhibition and impulsivity using fruit flies.
From Science Daily
To test how the antifreeze proteins work, Matthew Capek, a Ph.D. student in the Gallio Lab, modified fruit flies to produce one of the snow fly proteins.
From Science Daily
During the first few hours after fertilization, a fruit fly embryo rapidly divides its nuclei, producing thousands of cells in a short time.
From Science Daily
"Export markets demand zero tolerance on pests. Even if inspectors find a single fruit fly, the entire consignment is discarded, leading to huge losses," he says.
From BBC
In the field, those 20-inch black-painted aluminum wheels wouldn’t stay pretty for long; those running boards would have the life expectancy of a fruit fly.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
