Word.ws English Dictionary

oestrums

oestrums is the plural of oestrum.

Meaning of oestrum

Noun

oestrum (countable and uncountable, plural oestrums)

  1. (obsolete) A biting insect; a gadfly or botfly.
    • In the œstrum or gadfly, the wimble draws out like the pieces of a spy-glass […].1802, William Paley, Natural Theology, section XIX
  2. (archaic, figuratively) Something that stings or incites one to frenzy or action; an impulse or passion.
    • […]at Other times flow'd Eaſy his Unpremeditated Verſe, with a certain Impetus and Æſtro, as Himſelf ſeem'd to Believe.1734, Jonathan Richardson, Explanatory Notes on Milton's Paradise Lost, London: Knapton, page cxiv
  3. (archaic) Estrus.

Questions about oestrums

What is oestrums the plural of?
Oestrums is the plural of oestrum.

Words near oestrums in the dictionary

  1. oestruates
  2. oestruating
  3. oestruation
  4. oestruations
  5. oestrum
  6. oestrums
  7. oestrus
  8. oestruses
  9. oesypum
  10. Oetaea
  11. Oetken

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: oestrums (page history and authors); oestrum (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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