What is "flea"

Flea \Flea\ (fl[=e]), v. t. [See Flay.] To flay. [Obs.]

He will be fleaed first And horse collars made of's skin.
--J. Fletcher.

Flea \Flea\, n. [OE. fle, flee, AS. fle['a], fle['a]h; akin to D. vtoo, OHG. fl[=o]h, G. floh, Icel. fl[=o], Russ. blocha; prob. from the root of E. flee. [root]84. See Flee.] (Zo["o]l.) An insect belonging to the genus Pulex, of the order Aphaniptera. Fleas are destitute of wings, but have the power of leaping energetically. The bite is poisonous to most persons. The human flea ( Pulex irritans), abundant in Europe, is rare in America, where the dog flea ( Ctenocephalides canis, formerly Pulex canis) and the smaller cat flea ( Ctenocephalides felis) take its place. See Aphaniptera, and Dog flea. See Illustration in Appendix.

A flea in the ear, an unwelcome hint or unexpected reply, annoying like a flea; an irritating repulse; as, to put a flea in one's ear; to go away with a flea in one's ear.

Beach flea, Black flea, etc. See under Beach, etc.

Old English flea "flea," from Proto-Germanic *flauhaz (cognates: Old Norse flo, Middle Dutch vlo, German Floh), perhaps related to Old English fleon "to flee," with a notion of "the jumping parasite," but more likely from PIE *plou- "flea" (cognates: Latin pulex, Greek psylla; see puce).\n

\nChaucer's plural is fleen. Flea-bag "bed" is from 1839; flea-circus is from 1886; flea-collar is from 1953. Flea-pit (1937) is an old colloquial name for a movie-house, or, as OED puts it, "an allegedly verminous place of public assembly."\n\n"A man named 'Mueller' put on the first trained-flea circus in America at the old Stone and Austin museum in Boston nearly forty years ago. Another German named 'Auvershleg' had the first traveling flea circus in this country thirty years ago. In addition to fairs and museums, I get as high as $25 for a private exhibition."

["Professor" William Heckler, quoted in "Popular Mechanics," February 1928. Printed at the top of his programs were "Every action is visible to the naked eye" and "No danger of desertion."]

"clear of fleas," c.1600, from flea (n.). Related: Flead.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order ''Siphonaptera'', renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities. 2 A thing of no significance. Etymology 2

vb. (obsolete spelling of flay English)

n. any wingless blood-sucking parasitic insect noted for ability to leap

Fleas are insects that form the order Siphonaptera. They are wingless, with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals and birds.

Flea species include:

• Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)
• Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis)
• Human flea (Pulex irritans)
• Moorhen flea (Dasypsyllus gallinulae)
• Northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus)
• Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis)

Over 2,000 species have been described worldwide.

A flea is a parasitic insect.

Flea may also refer to:

• Cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, whose primary host are domestic cats
• Snow flea, small jumping insects in the order Collembola and a term sometimes also used for wingless scorpionflies in the family Boreidae
• Water flea, any of several small aquatic crustacea
• Flea (musician), the stage name of Michael Balzary, bassist of Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Flea, a bar magnet (or stir bar in the U.S.) used with a magnetic stirrer to stir solutions in a laboratory
• FLEA (psychedelic), a psychedelic phenethylamine

In literature and fiction:

• The Flea (poem), a poem by John Donne
• The Flea (character), a character from the animated TV series ¡Mucha Lucha!
• The Flea (fairy tale), a fairy tale by Giambattista Basile
• Flea, an enemy character in 1995 role-playing video game Chrono Trigger
• "Fleas" (poem), a common alias for "Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes", considered the shortest rhyming poem in the English language
• " Fleas (The Good Wife)", a first season episode of The Good Wife

Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-born American musician, best known as the bassist, a co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers with whom he was inducted in 2012 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Flea briefly appeared as the bassist for such bands as What Is This?, Fear and Jane's Addiction. More recently he has appeared as a member of the rock supergroups Atoms for Peace, Antemasque, Pigface and Rocket Juice & the Moon. Flea has also collaborated with other artists, including The Mars Volta, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Alanis Morissette and Young MC.

In 2009, Rolling Stones readers ranked Flea the second-best bassist of all-time; John Entwistle placed at number one.

Flea has made occasional forays into acting, appearing in films that span many genres, such as Suburbia, Back to the Future Part II and Part III, My Own Private Idaho, The Chase, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thrashin', Dudes, and The Big Lebowski, in addition to voicing the character Donnie Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys animated television series and films. In 2014, Flea returned to acting in the film Low Down.

Flea is the co-founder of Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a non-profit music education organization founded in 2001 for underprivileged children.