butterfly
- Top 5000
Sense 1
- noun
- A1
An insect with a thin body and four wide, often brightly patterned wings, which flies by day and feeds on the sweet liquid in flowers.
A butterfly landed on the warm stone and slowly opened its wings.
The caterpillar will turn into a butterfly in about three weeks.
Far fewer butterflies visit the meadow since it was cut short.
He photographed a blue butterfly resting on the wet path.
Common collocations: a colourful butterfly · butterfly wings · catch a butterfly · butterfly species
Part of: Animals
Sense 2 · less common
- noun
- B2
A way of swimming in which the swimmer throws both arms forward over the water at the same time and kicks with the legs together.
He swims butterfly faster than anyone else in our club.
Butterfly is the hardest stroke to learn properly.
She won the two hundred metres butterfly by half a second.
Common collocations: swim butterfly · the butterfly stroke · 100 metres butterfly
Part of: Sport, Exercise and fitness
Forms
- plural
- butterflies