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fruit fly
noun
: any of various small dipteran flies (such as a drosophila) whose larvae feed on fruit or decaying vegetable matter
Examples of fruit fly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Several restaurants had one or more follow-up inspections and fruit flies and gnats were observed in the latest Plano inspections of businesses and other locations that serve food, according to city data.
—Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2024
Scientists began by examining the gene expression in individual cells from model organisms like fruit flies and mice.
—Quanta Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
But last month, employees stripped dozens of them and placed them at the rear of the lot, away from the public, as part of an all-out quarantine effort aimed at eradicating one of the most destructive pests in the world: the Mediterranean fruit fly.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023
This map shows the quarantine boundary of a Los Angeles neighborhood after invasive Tau fruit flies were discovered.
—Li Cohen, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2023
The first thing to consider is that fruit flies are very different from us humans.
—William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024
Unlike all the other species tested in the lab experiments, oleander hawk moths and Drosophila fruit flies flew normally in the presence of light.
—Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2024
The entire genome was sequenced in 2008, and the beetle shares between 10,000 and 15,000 genes with the fruit fly (Drosophila), another workhorse of genetics research.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023
For the most part, scientists have studied aspects of procreation in space only in animals, including fruit flies, frogs, newts, geckos, aquatic crustaceans, quails, rats, mice and, intriguingly, rams.
—Kim Tingley, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fruit fly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1753, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near fruit fly
Cite this Entry
“Fruit fly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fruit%20fly. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Kids Definition
fruit fly
noun
: any of various small two-winged flies whose larvae feed on fruit or decaying vegetable matter
Medical Definition
fruit fly
noun
: any of various small dipteran flies (as a drosophila) whose larvae feed on fruit or decaying vegetable matter
More from Merriam-Webster on fruit fly
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fruit fly
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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