Fly-swept
Posted by Victoria S Dennis on September 15, 2005
In Reply to: Fly-swept posted by Shae on September 13, 2005
: : What is the meanin of "fly-swept"
: It describes a place that is so derelict that even flies, having investigated, can find nothing of interest.
Are you sure this isn't a mistake for "fly-blown"? Fly-blows are the eggs of flies, so "fly-blown" literally means "tainted by flies", and more figuratively "squalid, run-down, dirty", as in "a fly-blown bar" or "a fly-blown village".