▪ I. flea, n.
(fliː)
Forms: 1 fléah, fléh, fléa, fléo, 3–5 fle, 3–6 flee, 6 Sc. fla, 8 Sc. flae, dial. fleigh, 9 Sc. flech, dial. fleck, 6– flea. pl. 1 fléan, 4–6 fleen, 5 flen.
[Com. Teut.: OE. fléah str. (prob. masc.), fléa wk. masc. or fem.; corresponding to MDu., MLG. vlô (Du. vloo), OHG. flôh, flôch str. masc. (MHG. vlôch str. masc., pl. flœhe, vlô str. fem., mod.Ger. floh fem.), ON. fló str. fem. (pl. flœ́r); repr. OTeut. *flauh-, or more probably *þlauh- (cons.-stem) cogn. with flee v.]
1. a. A small wingless insect (or genus of insects, Pulex, the common flea being P. irritans), well known for its biting propensities and its agility in leaping; it feeds on the blood of man and of some other animals.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 813 Pulix, fleah. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 264 Heo [gorst] cwelð þa flean. c 1305 Land Cokayne 37 Nis þer flei, fle, no lowse. c 1386 Chaucer Manciple's Prol. 17 Hast thou had fleen al night or artow dronke? 1547 Boorde Brev. Health ccxcix. 98 Flees the whiche doth byte and stynge men in theyr beddes. 1626 Bacon Sylva §696 Fleas breed principally of Straw or Mats. 1733 Swift On Poetry 353 So naturalists observe a flea Hath smaller fleas, that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite 'em, And so proceed ad infinitum. 1791 Boswell Johnson (1831) II. 186 The counsel upon the circuit at Shrewsbury were much bitten by fleas. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 227 Fleas..in Rome come home to everybody's business and bosom. 1874 Wood Insects Abr. 771 The best-known foreign Flea, the Chigoe (Pulex penetrans). |
b. As a type of anything small or contemptible.
| 1388 Wyclif 1 Sam. xxiv. 15 Thou pursuest a deed hound, and a quyk fle [1382 flyȝe]. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 195 For it is said in Proverb, But lawté All other vertewis ar nocht worth ane fle. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. 660 Me thocht yu had nouther force..nor will for till haue greiuit ane Fla. 1857 R. Tomes Amer. in Japan v. 126 These Lilliputian bumpers would not have floored a flea. |
2. = flea-beetle: see 6 below.
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 760 The hop-plant..is liable to be wholly devoured..by the ravages of the flea. 1842 Johnson Farmer's Encycl., Fly in Turnips (Altica nemorum)..It is sometimes called the black jack and sometimes the flea or black fly. 1860 Curtis Farm Insects List Engravings, Altica nemorum, the Turnip fly or flea. Altica concinna, the Hop flea or beetle. |
3. Applied, with defining word prefixed, to small crustaceans which leap like a flea: see sand-flea, water-flea.
beach-flea (
U.S.)
= sand-flea.
| 1888 Riverside Nat. Hist. II. 76 The ‘beach-fleas’ so common on the sandy beaches. |
4. a. phr. a flea in one's ear: said of a stinging or mortifying reproof, rebuff, or repulse, which sends one away discomfited: chiefly in
phr. to go (send, etc.) away with a flea in one's ear.
† b. Formerly also
= anything that surprises or alarms, matter for disquietude or agitation of spirit: after F. (
avoir or
mettre)
la puce à l'oreille.
| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf. Manhode ii. xxxix. (1869) 91 And manye oothere grete wundres [ye haue seyd] whiche ben fleen in myne eres [F. puces es oreilles]. 1577 tr. De L'Isle's Legendarie B vj b, Sending them away with fleas in their eares, vtterly disapointed of their purpose. 1577 Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 423 [He] at length had such his answer, that he is gone to Rome with a flea in his eare, that disquieteth him. a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Love's Cure iii. iii, He went away with a flea in's ear, Like a poor cur. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age i. i. ix. 18 The Protestants..have made Leagues to uphold themselves; and put a flea into the ear of France. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. vi, We being stronger than they, sent them away with a flea in their ear. 1741 Richardson Pamela I. xxii. 56, I was hurrying out with a Flea in my Ear, as the Saying is. 1838 C. K. Sharpe Corr. (1888) II. 510 [He] came off unvictorious with a flea in his ear. 1887 Rider Haggard Jess xiii, I sent him off with a flea in his ear, I can tell you. |
5. Comb., as
† flea-catcher,
flea-feeder,
flea-skinning;
flea-brown,
flea-coloured adjs.| 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. I. 538 The peroxide [of lead] may be precipitated of a brilliant *flea-brown colour. |
| 1806 Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1807) X. 221 Bug Destroyer to His Majesty, and *Flea Catcher in general. |
| 1776 Anstey Election Ball (1808) 230 A new-fashioned *flea-coloured coat. |
| 1603 Breton Wit's Priv. Wealth (1639) B b, They that love their beds are great *Flea-feeders. |
| 1860 Sala Lady Chesterf. v. 81 This..pebble-peeling *flea-skinning principle. |
6. a. Special comb.:
flea-bag (
slang), a bed; also, a soldier's sleeping-bag; also applied to a shabby building, place, etc.;
flea-beetle, a small leaping beetle of the genus
Haltica, the species of which ravage hops, grape-vines, turnips, and other plants;
flea-bug U.S. = flea-beetle;
flea circus orig. U.S., a show of performing fleas;
flea collar, a collar (for a dog or cat) impregnated with a substance that kills fleas;
flea-hopper U.S., any of various jumping species of bugs of the family Miridæ,
esp. (
a) the garden flea-hopper (genus
Halticus), a small black bug that sucks sap from garden plants; (
b) the cotton flea-hopper,
Psallus seriatus, a small green sucking insect that attacks cotton;
flea-louse, a leaping plant-louse of the family Psyllidæ;
flea-lugged (
Sc.), unsettled, harebrained (
Jam.);
flea market colloq. [
cf. Fr. marché aux puces, in Paris], term applied jocularly to a street market;
flea pit colloq., an allegedly verminous place of public assembly,
e.g. a cinema;
flea-powder, a remedy against fleas;
† flea-trap, in
quot. an opprobrious epithet applied to a person.
| 1839 Lever H. Lorrequer xxxix, I think the gentleman would be better if he went off to his *flea-bag himself. 1915 H. Rosher In R.N.A.S. (1916) 41, I am going to invest in a Jaeger flea bag. 1930 R. Pertwee Pursuit i. xi. 58 He snaked his feet into his flea bag. 1932 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls v. 94 His room on the top of an old fleabag in Eighth Avenue. 1958 E. Dundy Dud Avocado iii. iv. 249 God, how I hated Paris! Paris was one big flea-bag. 1961 John o' London's 14 Sept. 296/4 Drab three-storey buildings that now serve as fleabag hotels. |
| 1842 Johnson Farmer's Encycl., Fly in Turnips (Altica nemorum)..a species of *flea-beetle which attacks the turnip crop. |
| 1877 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. IV. 158 It is very lively in its movements, and is sometimes called *flea-bug. |
| 1928 Amer. Mag. May 67/1 Professor Heckler's Trained Fleas... Tiny golden carts rattled merrily across the strip of white blotting paper. The first act in the *flea circus was under way. 1932 Screenland Apr. 89/1 Shooting galleries, the flea circus, and ending the spree by having their pictures made. 1936 Auden & Isherwood Ascent of F6 (1937) ii. iii, When I was at school, I tried to keep a flea circus. 1950 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. IX. 369/1 ‘Flea Circuses’, which are still to be seen at fairs—the main attraction usually being a chariot race between fleas attached by wire to tiny aluminium chariots. 1953 Flea circus [see Cheap Jack s.v. cheap a. D]. |
| 1953 Pets & Pet Shop Management Dec. 5/2 A new type of flea preventive is now being introduced—the Ace *Flea Collar for dogs... A Flea Collar for cats is said to be under way.., the collar now available is for dogs only. 1975 Schneck & Norris Cat Care §65 During the flea season..the cat should wear a flea collar (available from pet shops). |
| 1902 L. O. Howard Insect Bk. 301 Halticus uhleri Giard, known as the ‘garden *flea-hopper’, is common in gardens and is injurious to flowers and vegetables. 1920 Jrnl. Agric. Res. 15 Mar. 485 The cotton flea hopper, Psallus seriatus Reuter,..has only recently become important as a cotton pest. 1926 Jrnl. Econ. Ent. Feb. 106 The natural hosts of the cotton flea-hopper are various species of Croton. 1959 Southwood & Leston Land & Water Bugs Brit. Isles ix. 244 The North American garden fleahopper Halticus bracteatus (Say), is often a serious pest of clovers or lucerne. |
| 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 90 Wi *flae-lugged sharny-fac'd Lawrie. 1823 Galt Entail III. 70 Yon flea-luggit thing, Jamie. |
| 1922 G. S. Dougherty In Europe 130 It is called the ‘*Flea’ Market because there are so many second hand articles sold of all kinds that they are believed to gather fleas. 1960 N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred xx. 213 He must learn to clean and crate and pack the object as well as to discover it and purchase it and resell it. From flea-market to Jayne Wrightsman's boudoir. 1970 New Yorker 15 Aug. 62/2 The preservation of the open-air flea market. |
| 1937 Daily Herald 3 Feb. 12/4 Even the patrons of these palaces [sc. cinemas] referred to them as ‘*flea-pits’. Ibid., A peaked service cap with the name of the flea pit written on the band in gold braid. 1971 Ink 12 June 14/4 He went to a fleapit cinema. |
| 1699 Poor Robin A iv, Since Scoggin found out his *Flea-Powder. |
| a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Bonduca ii. iii, 1 Daughter. Are they not our tormentors? Car. Tormentors? *flea-traps! 1681 Otway Soldier's Fort. v. i, Do you long to be ferking of Man's Flesh, Madam Flea-trap? |
b. In various plant-names, as
flea-dock, the butter-bur (
Petasites vulgaris);
flea-grass,
flea-sedge,
Carex pulicaris;
† flea-seed,
Plantago Psyllium;
flea-weed, local name for
Galium verum;
flea-wood (see
quot.).
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal App., *Fleadocke is Petasites. 1847 Halliwell, Flea-dock, the herb butter-burr. |
| 1670 Ray Catal. Plant. Angl. 148 *Flea-grass. This was so denominated by Mr. Goodyer, because the seeds..do in shape and colour somewhat resemble Fleas. |
| 1820 Green Univ. Herbal I. 252 Carex Pulicaris *Flea Sedge, or Flea Grass. |
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 105 b, Psillium..may be well called *fleasede or fleawurt because y⊇ sede is very lyke vnto a fle. |
| 1892 Northumbld. Gloss., *Flea-wood, the bog myrtle or sweet gale, Myrica Gale. A housewife's cure for fleas. |
Add:
[1.] c. Colloq. phr. (as) fit as a flea, fine, very fit.
Cf. as fit as a fiddle s.v. fiddle n. 1 b.
| 1889 J. Nicholson Folk Speech E. Yorkshire iii. 19 As fit as a flea, as ready and eager as a flea for blood. 1908 R. Herbert When Diamonds were Trumps ix. 108 He'll take you along and you'll be as fit as a flea. 1921 J. Galsworthy To Let i. xii. 115 Happy was Jack Cardigan who snored into Imogen's white shoulder, fit as a flea. 1955 ‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren iv. 122 I'll..tell her that you're as fit as a flea and having the time of your life. 1990 Sun 20 Oct. 13/1 I'm fit as a flea now—and the blotches have gone! |
▪ II. flea, v. (
fliː)
Also
dial. fleck.
[f. prec. n.] trans. To rid of fleas, remove fleas from.
| a 1610 Healey Theophrastus (1636) 79 He sweepes the house and fleas the beds himselfe. 1700 Congreve Way of World iv. ix, Go flea dogs, and read romances! 1884 Chesh. Gloss. s.v. Fleck, ‘Her father had gone up to fleck the bed.’ 1920 T. S. Eliot Ara vos Prec 15 Who clipped the lion's wings And flea'd his rump and pared his claws? 1930 E. Waugh Labels 100 A pet monkey..fleaed its rump on the terrace. 1932 Auden Orators i. 21 The dog fleaing itself in the hot dust. 1937 Sunday Times 18 Apr. 8/4 She had the kind of vitality which is ready to start an open-air meeting at Hampstead with an audience of a policeman and a dog fleaing itself. |
▪ III. flea obs. f. flay.