bluebottle

• blue-bottle

From blue +‎ bottle,^[1] after the resemblance to shiny colored-glass bottles. In sense 3 (“cornflower”), via Middle English blewbothel. Sense 6 (“police officer”) is in reference to the colour of the uniform.

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bluebottle (plural bluebottles)

1. Any of various blowflies of the genus Calliphora that have an iridescent metallic-blue body and make a loud buzzing noise when flying.
   • 1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page i. 16:

     The incredibly long body as well as the extended wings were of a gleaming purplish-gray colour: I can only liken it to that of a meat fly or common "bluebottle".

2. A marine jellyfish of the genus Physalia, which includes Physalia physalis, the Portuguese man-of-war, and Physalia utriculus, the Pacific man-of-war; a man-of-war.
4. A cornflower, a plant that grows in grain fields, Centaurea cyanus, with blue flowers resembling bottles.
5. A blue ant, Diamma bicolor, a parasitic wasp native to Australia.
6. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium, also called triangles, etc.
8. (UK, Australia, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A police officer.
   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]:

     I will have you as soundly swing’d for this, you bluebottle rogue!

   • 1878, Charles Hindley, The life and times of James Catnach, page 206:

     […] comic writers […] have never failed to make capital out of the New Police, Peel's Raw-Lobsters, Peelers, Blue Bottles, &c., &c.

   • 1882, Henry Herman, Henry Arthur Jones, The Silver King:

     COOMBE: He got the clinch only last week — eighteen months. You see it's no good having anybody here as ain't got a^[sic] unblemished character. We don't want to have the bluebottles come sniffing round here, do we?

9. (derogatory, obsolete) A bluestocking.
   • 1813, Lord G. G. Byron, edited by Rowland E. Prothero, The Works Of Lord Byron Letters And Journals Vol II‎^[1], page 358:

     To-morrow there is a party of purple at the “blue” Miss Berry’s. Shall I go? um! — I don’t much affect your blue-bottles ; — but one ought to be civil.

   • 1846 February 22, “Letter from Spranger Barry, Esq.”, in Sunday Dispatch (New York)‎^[2], page 2, Column 6:

     There appears to be a growing disposition on the part of the literary and dramatic blue-bottles of this city to get up a national drama and to manufacture a new race of actors.

   • 1853 January 29, Geo. F. Pardon, “Common People”, in The Working Man’s Friend‎^[3], page 282:

     ..and did not the rich dowager-countess Bluebottle marry her footman, who forthwith became a lord and was made a privy counsellor.

   • 1922 December, Simon Pure, “The Londoner”, in The Bookman‎^[4]:

     There are many literary bluebottles — those who feed upon the remains of literature and buzz about the heads of those who are yet alive in this domain.

• blowfly, bottlefly

• greenbottle, green-bottle fly

• blue-bottle fly