† bomˈbylious, a. Obs.
[f. L. bombylius, a. Gr. βοµβυλιός a humble-bee or other buzzing insect (f. βόµβος boom, hum), now made the generic name of a dipterous insect, the Humble-bee Fly.]
Buzzing, humming, like a large bee.
| 1713 Derham Phys. Theol. iv. xiv. 249 The Horse Fly..is vexatious to horses—not by stinging them, but only by their bombylious noise. [mispr. bombylicus; bombilious is an error of recent Dicts.] |