† ˈtrencher-fly Obs.
[f. trencher1 + fly n.1, as a creature that infests the table.]
A parasite.
| 1590 Greene Never too Late Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 165 Fed vppon with Trencher flies, eaten aliue with flatterers. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 29 He shall not want trencher-flies, clawbackes, and Sycophants. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables No. 337. I. 294 To try, which of 'em were Friends, and which, only Trencher-Flies, and Spungers. |