fruit fly

noun

: any of various small dipteran flies (such as a drosophila) whose larvae feed on fruit or decaying vegetable matter

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Any base in our DNA is twice as likely to mutate as a base in a fruit fly's DNA, for example. —Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2010

Scientists know a lot about fruit fly brains and nervous systems — much more than those belonging to mammals. —Megan Schmidt, Discover Magazine, 14 Dec. 2018

Despite a production life as short as a fruit fly’s, the lure of the DeLorean DMC-12 endures today. —Robert Ross, Robb Report, 29 Aug. 2022

With unsurpassed flying ability, dragonflies can grab and eat a fruit fly in midair. —Jennifer Rude Klett, Journal Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2022

Previously, the title of world’s largest bacteria belonged to a microbe the size of a fruit fly’s eye. —Sumeet Kulkarni, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2022

However, recent scientific advances using a distant model organism—the fruit fly—may offer a new window into how brain cells could be regenerated in humans. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 11 July 2022

Each female fruit fly can lay up to 500 eggs at a time! —Natalie Schumann, Country Living, 23 May 2022

Additional honorable mentions were awarded to photos of fruit fly ovaries, an embryonic zebrafish nervous system, and a mouse brain. —Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 May 2022

See More

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1753, in the meaning defined above

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