Zimb

Origin

Amharic zemb, zimb.

Full definition of zimb

Noun

1. An Ethiopian horsefly of the genus , destructive to livestock.
• 1840, Robert Montgomery Martin, Colonial magazine and commercial-maritime journal: Volume 3 (page 155)The illustrious Bruce and others imagine, that in the zimb of Abyssinia they recognize the fly plague which afflicted the Egyptians.
• 1854, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, A history of all nations, from the earliest periods to the present time (volume 2, page 608)The zimb-fly sometimes depopulates whole territories, causing man and beast to fly from the lowlands into the mountains or the desert. Both the scorpion and locust infest the country.