butterfly

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: but=ter=fly

CIDE DICTIONARY

butterfly, n. [Perh. from the color of a yellow species. AS. buter-flēge, buttor-fleóge; cf. G. butterfliege, D. botervlieg. See Butter, and Fly.].

 A general name for the numerous species of diurnal Lepidoptera.
"[See Illust. under Aphrodite.]"  [1913 Webster]

Asclepias butterfly. See under Asclepias. -- Butterfly fish (Zoöl.), the ocellated blenny (Blennius ocellaris) of Europe. See Blenny. The term is also applied to the flying gurnard. -- Butterfly shell (Zoöl.), a shell of the genus Voluta. -- Butterfly valve (Mech.), a kind of double clack valve, consisting of two semicircular clappers or wings hinged to a cross rib in the pump bucket. When open it somewhat resembles a butterfly in shape.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

butterfly, n. (pl. -flies)
1 any diurnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, with knobbed antennae, a long thin body, and four usu. brightly coloured wings erect when at rest.
2 a showy or frivolous person.
3 (in pl.) colloq. a nervous sensation felt in the stomach.

Idiom

butterfly net a fine net on a ring attached to a pole, used for catching butterflies. butterfly nut a kind of wing-nut. butterfly stroke a stroke in swimming, with both arms raised and lifted forwards together. butterfly valve a valve with hinged semicircular plates.

Etymology

OE buttor-fleoge (as BUTTER, FLY(2))

ROGET THESAURUS

butterfly

Irresolution

N irresolution, infirmity of purpose, indecision, indetermination, undetermination, unsettlement, uncertainty, demur, suspense, hesitating, hesitation, hesitancy, vacillation, changeableness, fluctuation, alternation, caprice, fickleness, levity, legerete, pliancy, weakness, timidity, cowardice, half measures, waverer, ass between two bundles of hay, shuttlecock, butterfly, wimp, doughface, irresolute, infirm of purpose, double-minded, half-hearted, undecided, unresolved, undetermined, shilly-shally, fidgety, tremulous, hesitating, off one's balance, at a loss, vacillating, unsteady, unsteadfast, fickle, without ballast, capricious, volatile, frothy, light, lightsome, light-minded, giddy, fast and loose, weak, feeble-minded, frail, timid, wimpish, wimpy, cowardly, dough-faced, facile, pliant, unable to say 'no', easy-going revocable, reversible, irresolutely, irresolved, irresolvedly, in faltering accents, off and on, from pillar to post, seesaw, Int, how happy could I be with either!.

Beauty

N beauty, the beautiful, to kalon, le beau ideal, aesthetics, callaesthetics, pulchritude, form, elegance, grace, beauty unadorned, natural beauty, symmetry, comeliness, fairness, polish, gloss, good effect, good looks, belle tournure, trigness, bloom, brilliancy, radiance, splendor, gorgeousness, magnificence, sublimity, sublimification, concinnity, delicacy, refinement, charm, je ne sais quoi, style, Venus, Aphrodite, Hebe, the Graces, Peri, Houri, Cupid, Apollo, Hyperion, Adonis, Antionous, Narcissus, peacock, butterfly, garden, flower of, pink of, bijou, jewel, work of art, flower, flow'ret gay, wildflower, rose, lily, anemone, asphodel, buttercup, crane's bill, daffodil, tulip, tiger lily, day lily, begonia, marigold, geranium, lily of the valley, ranunculus, rhododendron, windflower, pleasurableness, beautifying, landscaping, landscape gardening, decoration, calisthenics, beauty, hunk (of men), beautiful, beauteous, handsome, gorgeous, pretty, lovely, graceful, elegant, prepossessing, attractive, delicate, dainty, refined, fair, personable, comely, seemly, bonny, good-looking, well-favored, well-made, well-formed, well- proportioned, proper, shapely, symmetrical, harmonious, sightly, fit to be seen, passable, not amiss, goodly, dapper, tight, jimp, gimp, janty, jaunty, trig, natty, quaint, trim, tidy, neat, spruce, smart, tricksy, bright, bright eyed, rosy cheeked, cherry cheeked, rosy, ruddy, blooming, in full bloom, brilliant, shining, beamy, beaming, sparkling, splendid, resplendent, dazzling, glowing, glossy, sleek, rich, superb, magnificent, grand, fine, sublime, showy, specious, artistic, artistical, aesthetic, picturesque, pictorial, fait a peindre, well-composed, well grouped, well varied, curious, enchanting becoming, ornamental, undeformed, undefaced, unspotted, spotless, auxilium non leve vultus habet, beauty born of murmuring sound, flowers preach to us if we will hear, gratior ac pulchro veniens in corpore virtus, none but the brave deserve the fair, thou who hast the fatal gift of beauty.

Variegation

N variegation, colors, dichroism, trichroism, iridescence, play of colors, polychrome, maculation, spottiness, striae, spectrum, rainbow, iris, tulip, peacock, chameleon, butterfly, tortoise shell, mackerel, mackerel sky, zebra, leopard, cheetah, nacre, ocelot, ophite, mother-of-pearl, opal, marble, check, plaid, tartan, patchwork, marquetry-, parquetry, mosaic, tesserae, strigae, chessboard, checkers, chequers, harlequin, Joseph's coat, tricolor, variegated, many-colored, many-hued, divers-colored, party- colored, dichromatic, polychromatic, bicolor, tricolor, versicolor, of all the colors of the rainbow, of all manner of colors, kaleidoscopic, iridescent, opaline, opalescent, prismatic, nacreous, pearly, shot, gorge de pigeon, chatoyant, irisated, pavonine, pied, piebald, motley, mottled, marbled, pepper and salt, paned, dappled, clouded, cymophanous, mosaic, tesselated, plaid, tortoise shell, spotted, spotty, punctated, powdered, speckled, freckled, flea-bitten, studded, flecked, fleckered, striated, barred, veined, brinded, brindled, tabby, watered, grizzled, listed, embroidered, daedal, naevose, stipiform, strigose, striolate, (iii) PERCEPTIONS OF LIGHT.