haltere

«haltere» in Mova's school dictionary: One of the two tiny knob-shaped organs on flies and… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a haltere, halteres — usually plural)

meaning for a pupil

(science) One of the two tiny knob-shaped organs on flies and mosquitoes, in place of a back pair of wings, which help them balance and steer while flying. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons about insects, halteres explain why flies are such good fliers: the halteres beat with the wings and sense turning, a bit like a living gyroscope. Most insects have four wings; true flies have two wings and two halteres. Phrases: a fly's halteres.

examples

• Flies have halteres instead of a second pair of wings. tree →
• The halteres help a fly keep its balance. tree →
• Under the microscope we saw the tiny halteres. tree →
• Mosquitoes have halteres too. tree →
• Halteres work a bit like a gyroscope. tree →

note

Usually used in the plural: halteres (hal-TEER-eez). Science word; not used in everyday talk. Halteres come from the Greek for weights held by jumpers.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «haltere» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.