# bluebottle

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Any of various blowflies of the genus Calliphora that have an iridescent metallic-blue body and make a loud buzzing noise when flying.
2. A marine jellyfish of the genus Physalia, which includes Physalia physalis, the Portuguese man-of-war, and Physalia utriculus, the Pacific man-of-war; a man-of-war.
3. A cornflower, a plant that grows in grain fields, Centaurea cyanus, with blue flowers resembling bottles.
4. A blue ant, Diamma bicolor, a parasitic wasp native to Australia.
5. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium, also called triangles, etc.
6. A police officer.
7. A bluestocking.

## Etymology
From blue + bottle, after the resemblance to shiny colored-glass bottles. In noun sense 3 (“cornflower”), via Middle English blewbothel. Noun sense 6 (“police officer”) is in reference to the colour of the uniform.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bluebottle