daddy longlegs

1. 1.

   long-legged slender flies that resemble large mosquitoes but do not bite

   Synonymscrane fly

   Broaderdipterous insect

   Part ofTipulidae
2. 2.

   spiderlike arachnid with a small rounded body and very long thin legs

   SynonymsharvestmanPhalangium opilio

   Broaderarachnid

   Part ofPhalangium

Questions about daddy longlegs

What does daddy longlegs mean?

daddy longlegs means "long-legged slender flies that resemble large mosquitoes but do not bite". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for daddy longlegs?

Close synonyms include crane fly, harvestman, Phalangium opilio. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is daddy longlegs a common word?

daddy longlegs is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.