BLUEBOTTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bluebottle mean? 

• BLUEBOTTLE (noun)
  The noun BLUEBOTTLE has 2 senses:

1. an annual Eurasian plant cultivated in North America having showy heads of blue or purple or pink or white flowers

2. blowfly with iridescent blue body; makes a loud buzzing noise in flight

  Familiarity information: BLUEBOTTLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLUEBOTTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An annual Eurasian plant cultivated in North America having showy heads of blue or purple or pink or white flowers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

bachelor's button; bluebottle; Centaurea cyanus; cornflower

Hypernyms ("bluebottle" is a kind of...):

flower (a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms)

Holonyms ("bluebottle" is a member of...):

Centaurea; genus Centaurea (knapweed; star thistle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Blowfly with iridescent blue body; makes a loud buzzing noise in flight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

bluebottle; Calliphora vicina

Hypernyms ("bluebottle" is a kind of...):

blow fly; blowfly (large usually hairy metallic blue or green fly; lays eggs in carrion or dung or wounds)

 Context examples 

It was droning like a harmonium with the flies and bluebottles, and the floor and walls were like a slaughter-house.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A buzz and hum go up around me, as if the boys were so many bluebottles.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)