bluebottle

• blue +‎ bottle From resemblance to shiny colored-glass bottles.
• (police officer): From 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.
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.
3. A cornflower, a plant that grows in grain fields, Centaurea cyanus, with blue flowers resembling bottles.
4. A blue ant, Diamma bicolor, a parasitic wasp native to Australia.
5. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium, also called triangles, etc.
6. (UK, Australia, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A police officer.
   • 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 unblemished character. We don't want to have the bluebottles come sniffing round here, do we?

• blue-bottle fly