Word.ws English Dictionary

break a fly upon a wheel

break a fly upon a wheel is the alternative form of break a butterfly upon the wheel.

Meaning of break a butterfly upon the wheel

Verb

break a butterfly upon the wheel (third-person singular simple present breaks a butterfly upon the wheel, present participle breaking a butterfly upon the wheel, simple past broke a butterfly upon the wheel, past participle broken a butterfly upon the wheel)

  1. To inflict a punishment out of all proportion to the offence.
    • Let Paris tremble—“What? that Thing of ſilk,
      “Paris, that mere white Curd of Aſs’s milk?
      “Satire or Shame alas! can Paris feel?
      “Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?”
      Yet let me flap this Bug with gilded wings,
      This painted Child of Dirt that ſtinks and ſtings1734, Alexander Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot
  2. To employ great exertions for insignificant ends.

Forms of break a fly upon a wheel

third-person singular presentbreaks a fly upon a wheel
present participlebreaking a fly upon a wheel
pastbroke a fly upon a wheel
past participlebroken a fly upon a wheel

Questions about break a fly upon a wheel

What is break a fly upon a wheel the alternative form of?
Break a fly upon a wheel is the alternative form of break a butterfly upon the wheel.

Words near break a fly upon a wheel in the dictionary

  1. break a butterfly on the wheel
  2. break a butterfly upon a wheel
  3. break a butterfly upon the wheel
  4. break a fly on a wheel
  5. break a fly on the wheel
  6. break a fly upon a wheel
  7. break a fly upon the wheel
  8. break a lance
  9. break a leg
  10. break a promise
  11. break a sweat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: break a fly upon a wheel (page history and authors); break a butterfly upon the wheel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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