butterflying

Verb

butterfly (third-person singular simple present butterflies, present participle butterflying, simple past and past participle butterflied)

1. (transitive) To cut (food) almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.
   • butterflied shrimp
2. (transitive) To cut strips of surgical tape or plasters into thin strips, and place across (a gaping wound) to close it.
   • After everyone had obeyed his commands, the lieutenant motioned for two medics that now appeared to enter the room and attend to Dr. Carter. They bandaged him up, butterflying some of the deeper gashes and gave him a couple of shots.2006, Paul Garber, Newton's Force, page 256
3. (transitive) To cause events after the point of divergence to not happen as they did in real history, and people conceived after the point of divergence to not exist in recognizable form, due to the random variations introduced by the butterfly effect.
   • Pearl Harbor not happening would've butterflied Taylor Swift.

See all 15 meanings of butterfly