Cantharides

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cantharides \Can*thar"i*des\ (k[a^]n*th[a^]r"[i^]*d[=e]z), n.
     pl.
     See {Cantharis}.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Cantharis \Can"tha*ris\ (k[a^]n"th[.a]*r[i^]s), n.; pl.
     {Cantharides} (k[a^]n*th[a^]r"[i^]*d[=e]z). [L., a kind of
     beetle, esp. the Spanish fly, Gr. kanqari`s.] (Zool.)
     A beetle ({Lytta vesicatoria}, syn. {Cantharis vesicatoria}),
     having an elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green
     color, and a nauseous odor; the blister fly or blister
     beetle, of the apothecary; -- also called {Spanish fly}. Many
     other species of {Lytta}, used for the same purpose, take the
     same name. See {Blister beetle}, under {Blister}. The plural
     form in usually applied to the dried insects used in
     medicine.
     [1913 Webster]