ˈcow-ˌlady
[app. a transposition of the name lady-cow, which occurs earlier.]
1. A common provincial name of the coleopterous insects of the genus Coccinella; also called Lady-cow, and (more usually) Lady-bird.
| 1656 Musarum Deliciæ (N.), A paire of buskins they did bring Of the cow-ladyes corall wing; Powder'd o're with spots of jet. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 30 The Cow-Lady, or spotted Scarabee. 1746 Brit. Mag. 97 Our common Cow-Lady or Lady-Bird, as usually called. 1877 Stamford Mercury 24 Aug., A bluish black beetle about the size of a cow-lady has made its appearance. |
2. A fly used by anglers; also an artificial fly of similar appearance.
| 1676 Cotton Angler 325 The next is a Cow-lady, a little fly. 1684 R. H. Sch. Recreat. 162 Flies proper for every Month..For May..the Peacock-fly, the Cow-lady, the Cow-turd fly. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory II. 290 The cow-lady, a small fly: the wings of a red feather, or stripes of a red hackle of a cock: the body of a peacock's feather. |