Definition of Mayfly

1. Noun. Slender insect with delicate membranous wings having an aquatic larval stage and terrestrial adult stage usually lasting less than two days.

Exact synonyms: Dayfly, Shadfly
Generic synonyms: Ephemerid, Ephemeropteran
Group relationships: Ephemeridae, Family Ephemeridae

Definition of Mayfly

1. Noun. Any of many fragile insects, of the order ''Ephemeroptera'', that develop in fresh water, and live very briefly as adults. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Mayfly

1. a winged insect [n -FLIES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Mayfly

mayblooms
mayblossom
mayblossoms
maybush
maybushes
mayday
maydays
mayed
mayeng
mayenite
mayest
mayfish
mayflies
mayflower
mayflowers
mayfly (current term)
mayhap
mayhappen
mayhaps
mayhaw
mayhem
mayhemic
mayhems
mayidism
maying
mayingite
mayings
mayn't
mayo
mayonnaise

Literary usage of Mayfly

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and All Useful Discoveries and by C M Hovey (1849)
""The flower is, in color, like that of splendidum, but is fully eight and a half inches in diameter, and has, more decidedly than mayfly, the beautiful ..."

2. Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature by H.W. Wilson Company (1911)
"Wreck of the British naval airship mayfly. Scl. Am. 105: 333. O. 14, '11. Zeppelin's Schwaben. Sei. Am. 105: 472. N. 25, '11. ..."

3. Sporting Magazine edited by [Anonymus AC02751662] (1830)
"... &c. not thorough-bred.—Two miles—Six subs. horse to receive 20 sovs. Sir T. Stanley's ch. h. mayfly, by Piscator, aged, !lst. 51b. (S. Templeman). ..."

4. Angling Reminiscences by Francis Francis (1887)
"I HAVE mentioned elsewhere the mayfly mess which we hold yearly at that right jovial and ... They didn't take the mayfly because there wasn't any. ..."

5. Waterside Sketches: A Book for Wanderers and Anglers by William Senior (1875)
"THE mayfly, " Fly disporting in the shade, Wert thou for the angler made ? ... mayfly fishing is not, to my mind, altogether a satisfactory style of angling ..."

6. The Natural History of Insects by James Rennie, John Obadiah Westwood (1835)
"... HISTORY OF THE EPHEMERA OR mayfly. An account of the Larva and Pupa— Their Differences— The formation of their Fins or Breathing apparatus— The. ..."

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