butterfly

noun (plural butterflies)

• 1a nectar-feeding insect with two pairs of large, typically brightly coloured wings that are covered with microscopic scales. Butterflies are distinguished from moths by having clubbed or dilated antennae, holding their wings erect when at rest, and being active by day.

  • Superfamilies Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea, order Lepidoptera: several families. Formerly placed in a grouping known as the Rhopalocera
• [as modifier] having a two-lobed shape resembling the spread wings of a butterfly:a butterfly clip
• a showy or frivolous person:a social butterfly
• (butterflies) informal a fluttering and nauseous sensation felt in the stomach when one is nervous.

• 2a stroke in swimming in which both arms are raised out of the water and lifted forwards together.

verb (butterflies, butterflying, butterflied)

• split (a piece of meat or fish) almost in two and spread it out flat: (as adjective butterflied)butterflied shrimp