虻あぶ

あ

ぶ

Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

horsefly; gadfly

usually written using kana alone

Refers to large biting flies of the family Tabanidae, especially those that bother livestock and humans.

夏なつになると、牧ぼく場じょうにはアブがたくさん出でる。
In summer, many horseflies appear at the pasture.
アブに刺さされて、腕うでが腫はれてしまった。
I was bitten by a horsefly and my arm swelled up.

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉が虻あぶに刺さされるto be bitten/stung by a horsefly
牧ぼく場じょうで虻あぶに刺さされてしまった。
I got bitten by a horsefly at the ranch.
虻あぶを追おうto chase away/swat at a horsefly
牛うしは尾おで虻あぶを追おっている。
The cow is swishing its tail to chase away the horseflies.

Expressions

虻あぶ蜂はち取とらずtrying to do two things at once and failing at both; falling between two stools

Kanji

虻gadfly, horsefly
蝱horsefly, gadfly

Don't confuse with

蜂はちN1
虻 (a horsefly) and 蜂 (a bee or wasp) are both biting/stinging insects that beginners often lump together, but they belong to entirely different insect families.
蚊かN3
虻 (a horsefly) is a large biting fly that troubles livestock, while 蚊 (a mosquito) is much smaller and the more common household pest.

Counted with

匹ひきN3
counter for small animals · counter for rolls of cloth · archaic counter for horses · roll of cloth

Word family· 9

ツリアブ
bee fly
ミズアブ
soldier fly
ウシアブ
Tabanus trigonus (a species of horsefly)
メクラアブ
deerfly (Chrysops suavis)
ハナアブ
hoverfly; syrphid · drone fly

Show 4 more

虻あぶ蜂はち
horsefly and bee; horsefly and wasp
馬うま虻あぶ
horse botfly
シオヤアブ
robber fly (Promachus yesonicus)
ムシヒキアブ
robber fly

Written forms

虻Usage14%
- あぶ
  Standard kanji spelling for horsefly/gadfly.
- あむ
  out-dated reading
アブUsage69%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is common in everyday writing, as the word is usually written in kana.
あぶUsage17%
蝱
out-dated kanji form
- あぶ
  Outdated kanji form; rarely used in modern Japanese.
- あむ
  out-dated reading
あむ
out-dated reading

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. The kanji 虻 is a phono-semantic compound with 虫 (insect) and 亡 (lost, dead), but the historical derivation of the reading あぶ is unclear.

Meanings

noun

horsefly; gadfly

usually written using kana alone

Refers to large biting flies of the family Tabanidae, especially those that bother livestock and humans.

夏なつになると、牧ぼく場じょうにはアブがたくさん出でる。
In summer, many horseflies appear at the pasture.
アブに刺さされて、腕うでが腫はれてしまった。
I was bitten by a horsefly and my arm swelled up.

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉が虻あぶに刺さされるto be bitten/stung by a horsefly

牧ぼく場じょうで虻あぶに刺さされてしまった。

I got bitten by a horsefly at the ranch.

虻あぶを追おうto chase away/swat at a horsefly

牛うしは尾おで虻あぶを追おっている。

The cow is swishing its tail to chase away the horseflies.

Don't confuse with

蜂はちN1
虻 (a horsefly) and 蜂 (a bee or wasp) are both biting/stinging insects that beginners often lump together, but they belong to entirely different insect families.
蚊かN3
虻 (a horsefly) is a large biting fly that troubles livestock, while 蚊 (a mosquito) is much smaller and the more common household pest.

Word family· 9

ツリアブ
bee fly
ミズアブ
soldier fly
ウシアブ
Tabanus trigonus (a species of horsefly)
メクラアブ
deerfly (Chrysops suavis)
ハナアブ
hoverfly; syrphid · drone fly

Show 4 more

虻あぶ蜂はち
horsefly and bee; horsefly and wasp
馬うま虻あぶ
horse botfly
シオヤアブ
robber fly (Promachus yesonicus)
ムシヒキアブ
robber fly

Written forms

虻Usage14%
- あぶ
  Standard kanji spelling for horsefly/gadfly.
- あむ
  out-dated reading
アブUsage69%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is common in everyday writing, as the word is usually written in kana.
あぶUsage17%
蝱
out-dated kanji form
- あぶ
  Outdated kanji form; rarely used in modern Japanese.
- あむ
  out-dated reading
あむ
out-dated reading