Search Result for "blister_beetle":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. beetle that produces a secretion that blisters the skin;
[syn: blister beetle, meloid]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Blister \Blis"ter\, n. [OE.; akin to OD. bluyster, fr. the same root as blast, bladder, blow. See Blow to eject wind.] 1. A vesicle of the skin, containing watery matter or serum, whether occasioned by a burn or other injury, or by a vesicatory; a collection of serous fluid causing a bladderlike elevation of the cuticle. [1913 Webster] And painful blisters swelled my tender hands. --Grainger. [1913 Webster] 2. Any elevation made by the separation of the film or skin, as on plants; or by the swelling of the substance at the surface, as on steel. [1913 Webster] 3. A vesicatory; a plaster of Spanish flies, or other matter, applied to raise a blister. --Dunglison. [1913 Webster] Blister beetle, a beetle used to raise blisters, esp. the Lytta vesicatoria (or Cantharis vesicatoria), called Cantharis or Spanish fly by druggists. See Cantharis. Blister fly, a blister beetle. Blister plaster, a plaster designed to raise a blister; -- usually made of Spanish flies. Blister steel, crude steel formed from wrought iron by cementation; -- so called because of its blistered surface. Called also blistered steel. Blood blister. See under Blood. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

blister beetle n 1: beetle that produces a secretion that blisters the skin [syn: blister beetle, meloid]