butterflies

Noun

butterfly (plural butterflies)

1. A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.
   • It is true. I am like a butterfly, and I shall only live a little while.a. 1931 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “[Personalia and Fragments.] [Autobiographical Fragment].”, in Edward D[avid] McDonald, editor, Phoenix: The Posthumous Papers of D. H. Lawrence...
   1. (broadly) The imago (final form) of such an insect, consisting usually of a long body with large flat wings, as opposed to earlier instars such as caterpillar or pupa.
      • Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and he was a beautiful butterfly!1969, Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
2. (attributive) A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.
   • butterfly tape; butterfly bandage; butterfly strips
3. The butterfly stroke.
4. Any of several plane curves that look like a butterfly; see Butterfly curve (transcendental) and Butterfly curve (algebraic).
5. (archaic) Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable.
   • He was affable; therefore he was frivolous. The women liked him; therefore he was a butterfly.1859, George Meredith, chapter 15, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC

See all 15 meanings of butterfly