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gadfly

   Also found in: Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
gad·fly  (gdfl)
n.
1. A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.
2. One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.
3. Any of various flies, especially of the family Tabanidae, that bite or annoy livestock and other animals.

[gad + fly.]

gadfly [ˈgædˌflaɪ]
n pl -flies
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) any of various large dipterous flies, esp the horsefly, that annoy livestock by sucking their blood
2. a constantly irritating or harassing person
[from gad2 (sting) + fly2]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.gadflygadfly - a persistently annoying person      
nudnick, nudnik - (Yiddish) someone who is a boring pest
persecutor, tormenter, tormentor - someone who torments
2.gadfly - any of various large flies that annoy livestock
fly - two-winged insects characterized by active flight
botfly - stout-bodied hairy dipterous fly whose larvae are parasites on humans and other mammals
warble fly - hairy bee-like fly whose larvae produce lumpy abscesses (warbles) under the skin of cattle
cleg, clegg, horse fly, horsefly - large swift fly the female of which sucks blood of various animals
Translations
gadfly [ˈgædflaɪ] Ntábano m
gadfly [ˈgædflaɪ] n (= person) → enquiquineur/euse m/f
gadfly
n(Vieh)bremse f
gadfly [ˈgædˌflaɪ] ntafano
gadfly [ˈgædˌflaɪ] ntafano


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Passion for power: the wicked gadfly which is mounted on the vainest peoples; the scorner of all uncertain virtue; which rideth on every horse and on every pride.
They fled to the other end of the court like a herd of cattle maddened by the gadfly in early summer when the days are at their longest.
To see Porthos hungry, to see Mousqueton without gold lace, imprisoned, perhaps; to see Pierrefonds, Bracieux, razed to the very stones, dishonored even to the timber, - these were so many poignant griefs for D'Artagnan, and every time that one of these griefs struck him, he bounded like a horse at the sting of a gadfly beneath the vaults of foliage where he has sought shady shelter from the burning sun.
 
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