fruit fly

noun

any of numerous small dipterous insects of the family Tephritidae, the larvae of which feed on the fruit of various plants.

Origin

1745-55

Examples from the web for fruit fly

Researchers have compared it with that of other insects, including the fruit fly and the mosquito.
Now, fruit fly researchers have a similar bonanza on their hands.
For a fruit fly, these seem to be the smells that make the differences between striking lucky and getting rejected.
When he transferred it into a fruit fly, he managed to trigger the development of eyes on odd body parts.
The scientists then introduced a flock of these foxy fellows to a normal fruit fly population.
Let's compare it to the nervous system of a fruit fly.
In committee meetings she had the attention span of a fruit fly.
Researchers have found that two-thirds of human genes known to be involved in cancer have counterparts in the fruit fly.
Avocado was a poor fruit fly host immediately after harvest, but became an increasingly favorable host as fruit ripened.
The effect was reproducible but initially considered to be unique to the fruit fly.

British Dictionary definitions for fruit fly

noun

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

Slang definitions & phrases for fruit fly

noun phrase

fag hag (1970s+ Homosexuals)