Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Flea

Flea (flē), v. t. [See Flay.] To flay. [Obs.]

He will be fleaed first And horse collars made of's skin. J. Fletcher.

Flea, n. [OE. fle, flee, AS. fleá, fleáh; akin to D. vtoo, OHG. flōh, G. floh, Icel. flō, Russ. blocha; prob. from the root of E. flee. √84. See Flee.] (Zoöl.) An insect belonging to the genus Pulex, of the order Aphaniptera. Fleas are destitute of wings, but have the power of leaping energetically. The bite is poisonous to most persons. The human flea (Pulex irritans), abundant in Europe, is rare in America, where the dog flea (P. canis) takes its place. See Aphaniptera, and Dog flea. See Illustration in Appendix.

A flea in the ear, an unwelcome hint or unexpected reply, annoying like a flea; an irritating repulse; as, to put a flea in one's ear; to go away with a flea in one's ear. — Beach flea, Black flea, etc. See under Beach, etc.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.