horsefly

horse·fly
H4O1R1S1E1F4L1Y4
US/ˈhoɹsˌflaɪ/

noun

Any of several medium to large flies, of the family Tabanidae, that suck the blood of mammals (not to be confused with Stomoxys calcitrans, the stable fly, or dog fly).

Similar
clegbreezeflygadflystoat-flystouthorse tickHippobosca equinaclegg
OriginMiddle English horse fliȝe →
UncommonScrabble 17
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Meanings

nounhorsefly (plural horseflies)

plural horseflies · alternative horse-fly · alternative horse fly

  1. Any of several medium to large flies, of the family Tabanidae, that suck the blood of mammals (not to be confused with Stomoxys calcitrans, the stable fly, or dog fly).

    It was not a horsefly and it was not a deerfly; it was bigger than either.

    2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 36

    Synonyms: cleg, breezefly, gadfly, stoat-fly, stout

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny of several medium to large flies, of the family Tabanidae, that suck the blood of mammals (not to be confused with Stomoxys calcitrans, the stable fly, or dog fly).

Similar
clegbreezeflygadflystoat-flystout

More synonyms by meaning

nounwinged fly parasitic on horses

Similar
horse tickHippobosca equina
Broader
louse flyhippoboscid

nounlarge swift fly the female of which sucks blood of various animals

Similar
clegclegghorse fly
Broader
gadfly
Also see
clegcleggforest flystout

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishhorse fliȝe
  2. Englishhorsefly

From Middle English horse fliȝe, equivalent to horse + fly.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans perdevlieg
  • perdevliegfly of the family Tabanidae
Ancient Greek μύωψ
  • μύωψ (múōps)fly of the family Tabanidae
Arabic نُعَرَة
  • نُعَرَة (nuʕara)fly of the family Tabanidae
Basque ezpara, habe
  • ezparafly of the family Tabanidae
  • habefly of the family Tabanidae
Bengali ঘোড়া মাছি
  • ঘোড়া মাছি (ghōṛa machi)fly of the family Tabanidae
Bulgarian ко́нска муха́
  • ко́нска муха́ (kónska muhá)fly of the family Tabanidae
Catalan tabànid, tàvec
  • tabànidfly of the family Tabanidae
  • tàvecfly of the family Tabanidae
Chinese Cantonese 虻
  • 虻 (mong⁴)fly of the family Tabanidae
Chinese Mandarin 虻, 馬蠅 /马蝇
  • 虻 (méng)fly of the family Tabanidae
  • 馬蠅 /马蝇 (mǎying)fly of the family Tabanidae
Czech ovád
  • ovádfly of the family Tabanidae
Danish klæg
  • klægfly of the family Tabanidae
Dutch daas, steekvlieg
  • daasfly of the family Tabanidae
  • steekvliegfly of the family Tabanidae
  • blinddaasfly of the family Tabanidae
Esperanto tabano
  • tabanofly of the family Tabanidae
Estonian parm
  • parmfly of the family Tabanidae
Finnish paarma
  • paarmafly of the family Tabanidae
French taon
  • taonfly of the family Tabanidae
German Bremse
  • Bremsefly of the family Tabanidae
Greek αλογόμυγα
  • αλογόμυγα (alogómyga)fly of the family Tabanidae
Hebrew זְבוּב הַסּוּס
  • זְבוּב הַסּוּס (zvuv hasus)fly of the family Tabanidae
Hungarian bögöly
  • bögölyfly of the family Tabanidae
Icelandic kleggi
  • kleggifly of the family Tabanidae
Indonesian pikat
  • pikatfly of the family Tabanidae
Irish creabhar, creabhar capaill
  • creabharfly of the family Tabanidae
  • creabhar capaillfly of the family Tabanidae
Italian tafano
  • tafanofly of the family Tabanidae
Japanese 虻
  • 虻 (abu)fly of the family Tabanidae
Korean 등에
  • 등에 (deung'e)fly of the family Tabanidae
Latin tabānus, oestrus
  • tabānusfly of the family Tabanidae
  • oestrusfly of the family Tabanidae
  • asīlusfly of the family Tabanidae
Latvian dundurs
  • dundursfly of the family Tabanidae
Lithuanian sparvos
  • sparvosfly of the family Tabanidae
Malay pikat
  • pikatfly of the family Tabanidae
Norwegian Bokmål klegg
  • kleggfly of the family Tabanidae
Persian خرمگس
  • خرمگس (xar-magas)fly of the family Tabanidae
Polish bąk
  • bąkfly of the family Tabanidae
Portuguese moscardo, tavão
  • moscardofly of the family Tabanidae
  • tavãofly of the family Tabanidae
  • mutucafly of the family Tabanidae
Romanian tăun
  • tăunfly of the family Tabanidae
Russian сле́пень
  • сле́пень (slépenʹ)fly of the family Tabanidae
Scottish Gaelic creithleag-nan-each
  • creithleag-nan-eachfly of the family Tabanidae
Slovak ovad
  • ovadfly of the family Tabanidae
Spanish tábano, tabánido
  • tábanofly of the family Tabanidae
  • tabánidofly of the family Tabanidae
Swahili pange
  • pangefly of the family Tabanidae
Swedish broms
  • bromsfly of the family Tabanidae
Tagalog bangaw, niknik
  • bangawfly of the family Tabanidae
  • niknikfly of the family Tabanidae
Thai ฑังส, เหลือบ
  • ฑังส (tang-sà)fly of the family Tabanidae
  • เหลือบ (lʉ̀ʉap)fly of the family Tabanidae
Turkish atsineği
  • atsineğifly of the family Tabanidae
Ukrainian ґедзь
  • ґедзь (gedzʹ)fly of the family Tabanidae
Welsh pryf llwyd, clêr llwyd
  • pryf llwydfly of the family Tabanidae
  • clêr llwydfly of the family Tabanidae

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

floryshe
Cite this entry
APA

horsefly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horsefly

MLA

“horsefly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horsefly. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “horsefly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horsefly.

Source: horsefly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.