cantharides

2 definitions found

cantharides - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

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

  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]