| / English Dictionary |
BUTTERFLY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A swimming stroke in which the arms are thrown forward together out of the water while the feet kick up and down
Synonyms:
butterfly; butterfly stroke
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("butterfly" is a kind of...):
swimming stroke (a method of moving the arms and legs to push against the water and propel the swimmer forward)
Meronyms (parts of "butterfly"):
dolphin kick (a swimming kick; an up and down kick of the feet together)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Diurnal insect typically having a slender body with knobbed antennae and broad colorful wings
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("butterfly" is a kind of...):
lepidopteran; lepidopteron; lepidopterous insect (insect that in the adult state has four wings more or less covered with tiny scales)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "butterfly"):
brush-footed butterfly; four-footed butterfly; nymphalid; nymphalid butterfly (medium to large butterflies found worldwide typically having brightly colored wings and much-reduced nonfunctional forelegs carried folded on the breast)
ringlet; ringlet butterfly (any of various butterflies belonging to the family Satyridae)
danaid; danaid butterfly (large tropical butterfly with degenerate forelegs and an unpleasant taste)
pierid; pierid butterfly (any of numerous pale-colored butterflies having three pairs of well-developed legs)
sulfur butterfly; sulphur butterfly (any of numerous yellow or orange butterflies)
lycaenid; lycaenid butterfly (any of various butterflies of the family Lycaenidae)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
Example:
My husband never flirts with other women
Synonyms:
butterfly; chat up; coquet; coquette; dally; flirt; mash; philander; romance
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "butterfly" is one way to...):
speak; talk (exchange thoughts; talk with)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "butterfly"):
wanton (engage in amorous play)
vamp (act seductively with (someone))
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Sense 2
Meaning:
Cut and spread open, as in preparation for cooking
Example:
butterflied shrimp
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "butterfly" is one way to...):
open; spread; spread out; unfold (spread out or open from a closed or folded state)
Domain category:
cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Flutter like a butterfly
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "butterfly" is one way to...):
dart; fleet; flit; flutter (move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Context examples:
It has butterfly ears that are carried either erect or drooping.
(Papillon, NCI Thesaurus)
A reaction to a drug characterized by skin findings common to lupus including photosensitivity and butterfly rash; typically it resolves after drug discontinuation.
(Drug Induced Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus, NCI Thesaurus)
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) I get a sort of frightened feeling like 'butterflies' in the stomach.
(HADS - I Get Frightened Feeling Like Butterflies in the Stomach, NCI Thesaurus)
Your hand is clutching my arm, lightly it feels as a butterfly resting there.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Under the conditions of their escape it was naturally impossible to bring a large amount of baggage, but they had rescued Professor Summerlee's collections of butterflies and beetles, containing many new species.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The ancients did well when they typified the soul as a butterfly!
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
A taxonomic class of arthropods that includes praying mantises, dragonflies, grasshoppers, true bugs, flies, bees, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths, and beetles.
(Insect, NCI Thesaurus)
I, who knew him well, could tell from his wan cheeks and his restless fingers that he was at his wit’s ends what to do; but no stranger who observed his jaunty bearing, the flecking of his laced handkerchief, the handling of his quizzing glass, or the shooting of his ruffles, would ever have thought that this butterfly creature could have had a care upon earth.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
That night, on going to bed, I forgot to prepare in imagination the Barmecide supper of hot roast potatoes, or white bread and new milk, with which I was wont to amuse my inward cravings: I feasted instead on the spectacle of ideal drawings, which I saw in the dark; all the work of my own hands: freely pencilled houses and trees, picturesque rocks and ruins, Cuyp-like groups of cattle, sweet paintings of butterflies hovering over unblown roses, of birds picking at ripe cherries, of wren's nests enclosing pearl-like eggs, wreathed about with young ivy sprays.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Rose-red liked better to run about in the meadows and fields seeking flowers and catching butterflies; but Snow-white sat at home with her mother, and helped her with her housework, or read to her when there was nothing to do.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
