hornet fly

English

Noun

hornet fly (plural hornet flies)

1. Any of the genus Asilus and allied genera of dipterous insects, of which there are numerous species; large and fierce flies which capture bees and other insects, often larger than themselves, and suck their blood.

Synonyms

• hawk fly, robber fly

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “hornet fly”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)