butterflyn.
/ˈbʌtəflʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈbədərˌflaɪ/ 1.
a. Any of numerous nectar-feeding insects with two pairs of large, typically brightly coloured, wings, which together with moths make up the order Lepidoptera.Butterflies are distinguished from moths (in most cases) by having clubbed or dilated antennae, holding the wings erect when at rest, and being active by day. Both butterflies and moths undergo complete metamorphosis, the larval stage being a caterpillar and the pupal stage a chrysalis.Traditionally placed in the suborder Rhopalocera, butterflies are now generally assigned to the superfamilies Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea.In quot. eOE translating a form of classical Latin pāpiliō papilio n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Rhopalocera (butterflies) > [noun] > member of (butterfly)
butterflyeOE
ladybird1598
orange1766
psyche1896
eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 43 Papilo, buturfliogae [eOE Corpus Gloss. buterflege].
c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 473 Þer fliste vt a buterfliȝe Are ihc wiste on min iȝe.
c1390 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Vernon) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 288 Like to þe children þat rennen after a boterflye.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale (Ellesmere) (1872) Prol. l. 3980 Swich talkyng is nat worth a boterflye.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 46 Boturflye, papilio.
1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. B.i The butterflye gloriethe not in her owne dedes.
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 253 A Butterflie..remayneth in the open hande without power to flee any more.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 72 Men like butter-flies, Shew not their mealy wings but to the Summer. View more context for this quotation
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §696 As Butterflies quicken with heat, which were benummed with cold.
1727 J. Gay Fables I. xxiv. 83 And what's a Butterfly? At best He's but a caterpillar, drest.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 33 If we regard the wing of a butterfly with a good microscope, we shall perceive it studded over with a variety of little grains of different dimensions and forms.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. ii. 38 This [sc. Papilio feronia] is the only butterfly which I have ever seen that uses its legs for running.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh vii. 312 Butterflies, that bear Upon their blue wings such red embers round.
1900 Harper's Mag. May 838/2 Not a butterfly, but a poor singed moth, tumbled from the gas-globe.
1944 E. Welty in Harper's Bazaar Feb. 152/3 Even the women in sunbonnets disappear and nothing moves at noon but butterflies.
1974 Ecology 55 874/2 Plants suitable for adult butterfly feeding are found nearly everywhere.
2017 Daily Mail (Nexis) 12 Apr. Results show that butterflies are failing to cope with our changing climate and how we manage the environment.
b. figurative. In plural. A fluttering sensation felt, esp. in the stomach, as a result of nervousness or apprehensive excitement. Frequently in to have butterflies (in the stomach).
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the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > [noun] > disordered state of stomach
collywobbles1823
butterfly1958
1908 F. Converse House of Prayer iv. 43 The three o'clock train going down the valley..gave him a sad feeling, as if he had a butterfly in his stomach.]
1940 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 20 July d16/2 The blond giant admits he has butterflies in his stomach as he contemplates the adventure.
1942 N.Y. Times Mag. 25 Oct. 31/3 It seems everybody had as many butterflies as I did, and the same heart-sinking feeling.
1955 J. Cannan Long Shadows viii. 132 With butterflies in her stomach..she ascended the pretentious flight of dirty marble steps.
1958 Woman 20 Sept. 69/3 I still have ‘butterflies’ even now when I hear the Tiger Moth plane throttling back, which is my signal to prepare for the jump.
1977 Galesburg (Illinois) Register-Mail 23 Dec. 9/1 I get butterflies just thinking about telling mom and dad.
1996 Y. Martel Self 195 He was older, twenty-two, in fourth year, politics, loved Bergman, Buñuel and Cocteau, and I felt butterflies in my stomach when I thought about him in a certain way.
2011 T. Ronald Becoming Nancy (2012) ii. 37 I suddenly had butterflies, and felt slightly clammy. What the hell was happening?
2. figurative.
a. Something likened to a butterfly, esp. in being flimsy, fragile, or ephemeral.
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [noun] > weak substance or thing
butterflyc1390
lath1633
bulrush1646
matchstick1791
pack of cards1855
bandbox1875
c1390 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Vernon) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 288 (MED) What is al þe pompe of þis world in richesse or iolyte but a boturflye [c1440 Thornton buttirflye]?
1586 J. Prime Expos. St. Paul to Galathians iv. 146 Alas, alas Popery flyeth after butterflies, and beateth the aire, and aimeth at vncertainties.
a1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhemists New Test. (1618) 407 Those Churches which used unleavened bread, used no such butterflies as you doe; but had a great Cake which was sufficient for the whole congregation to communicate in.
1747 R. Campbell London Tradesman ii. 28 A vain Curiosity, after Butterflies and Trifles, [must not] pass for Love of useful Knowledge and Philosophy.
1788 R. Burns Let. 15 Nov. (1985) I. 340 I see every day, new Musical Publications, advertised; but what are they? Gaudy, hunted butterflies of a day, & then vanish for ever.
1872 Harper's Mag. Feb. 383/1 He was able to follow Alice to Newport and the other gay places in which her butterfly of a soul delighted.
1880 Harvard Lampoon 25 June 92/1 The little paper, started as a temporary gibe at the absurdity of the Sophomorical solemnity of the College papers of the day, proved to be an ephemeral butterfly only so far as it resembled that insect in its necessary relation to the ‘grub’.
2003 Los Angeles Times 22 Dec. 1/2 Columbia was a white butterfly bolted to a bullet. It was more robust than any other spacecraft ever built, more fragile than anyone dared acknowledge.
b. A capricious, giddy, or frivolous person, esp. one having a gaudy or showy appearance.See also social butterfly n. at social adj. and n. Compounds 2.
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the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > light-mindedness > [noun] > person
flippera1400
butterflya1500
dalliera1568
fling-brain1570
barmy-froth1598
inconsiderate1598
cork1601
cork-brain1630
kickshaw1644
shatter-brain1719
shatter-pate1775
shatter-wit1775
scatter-brain1790
flutter-pate1894
Jack-o'-wisp1896
ditz1984
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > capriciousness > capricious persons or animals > capricious or whimsical person
butterflya1500
wild-brain1580
wild-head1583
humorista1586
wild goose1597
barmy-froth1598
whirligig1602
maggot-monger1607
maggot-patea1640
kickshaw1644
whimsy-pate1654
maggot1681
volatilityship1771
whimship1793
vagarist1888
Jack-o'-wisp1896
Hamlet1903
temperamentalist1924
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 2719 Some in a weke..Will change theire mynde, & some in a day... Late such like botirflyes [a1550 Bodl. e Mus. butterflees] wandir & passe.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie ii. vi. sig. E6 O stay me, least I raile Beyond Nil vltra, to see this Butterflie, This windie bubble taske my balladry With sencelesse censure.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxiv. 13 Weele..tell old tales and laugh At guilded butterflies . View more context for this quotation
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 142 Long since I learned not to esteem of any golden Butterflies there [i.e. at court], but as of Counters.
1716 J. Gay Let. 26 Mar. (1966) 30 The Fops are painted Butterflys that flutter for a day.
1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women I. ii. 76 Nor will you be in danger of appearing butterflies one day, and slatterns the next.
1841 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 50 63 Coroneted carriages abound: the butterflies of fashion are abroad.
1885 M. G. Watkins in Academy 5 Dec. 379/1 Sufficiently interesting to captivate that butterfly, the ‘general reader’.
1928 P. G. Wodehouse Good Morning, Bill iii. 143 ‘You know perfectly well, Lord Tidmouth, that you are a mere butterfly.’ ‘Pardon me. I may be a butterfly, but I am not mere.’
1970 D. Morgan in S. Terkel Hard Times ii. 173 She said to me, ‘It's not a job for a butterfly.’ She could just look at me and tell that I was just totally unsuitable.
2013 Guardian (Nexis) 15 Feb. (G2 section) 20 He a witty and urbane man of the world, she a flirtatious society butterfly who is to fall passionately in love.
c. A person or thing that has undergone a considerable or striking transformation, esp. from a comparatively drab to a more eye-catching appearance. Typically in wider figurative context, and frequently with humorous or ironic overtones.With allusion to the butterfly's metamorphosis from caterpillar or chrysalis to its adult form.
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1866 All Year Round 21 July 32/1 He saw behind the bar the money grub of the pay-box transformed into a butterfly of the gayest variety.
1889 Preston Guardian 2 Feb. 4/6 The great Mr Wanamaker..who now emerges a full blown butterfly with cabinet rank.
1936 Congress. Rec. 80 10764/1 The Republican chrysalis sloughed off its drab coat of reactionary and special-privilege leadership and emerged as a beautiful butterfly of liberal and progressive convictions.
1965 S. J. Perelman in New Yorker 28 Aug. 28/1 I doubt whether anybody who saw Shirley Mazchstyck in pigtails could predict that out of this drab cocoon there would one day emerge a gorgeous butterfly yclept Sherry Muscatel, America's No. 1 stripteuse.
2015 Radio Times 11 July (South/West ed.) 32/3 MacFarlane..shed his nerdy persona and emerged a dashing butterfly.
d. British slang. A service that only operates or person who only works during certain periods of the year; esp. a cab driver who only works during the summer months. Occasionally also: a person who moves temporarily or seasonally from place to place. Now rare.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering > wanderer > one given to wandering
starter1578
groyl1582
rolling stone1598
floater1859
butterfly1876
roll-about1893
drifter1908
1876 H.E. Malet Annals of Road iii. 39 The stage coaches running between London and York, Chester, and Exeter, at this period did not run at all during winter, but were laid up for the season like ships during arctic frosts, and were what we now call ‘butterflies’.
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 July 1/2 There being then a smaller demand for conveyances both on the part of the public and the drivers, many of the latter, called ‘butterfly cabbies’, spending the cold season at other occupations.
1890 Chambers's Jrnl. 10 May 289/2 A ‘butterfly’ man rests for a moment to wipe his streaming brow, when the warder's stern voice bids him proceed with his work.
1891 Daily News 29 Dec. 6/4 The ‘butterfly man’, who is given cabs by the proprietors in the height of the season.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 8 Mar. 3/1 Those cabbies who come upon the streets in the fine days and disappear with the autumn leaves are called ‘butterflies’.
1902 Daily Chron. 2 June 7/1 Chelsea will welcome the return of the truant ‘butterfly’ to a region always to be associated with his artistic fame.
1912 Standard 15 Apr. 6/7 It was stated..that the word ‘butterflies’ was a ‘technical term’ for painters and decorators who worked upon bank holidays.
2009 Time Out (Nexis) 2 Apr. 6 Butterfly, cabbie who only works in summer.
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society > law > administration of justice > process, writ, warrant, or order > [noun] > summons
citationc1325
summonancec1410
process1423
summons1429
summonitionc1455
venire facias1463
letters citatory1465
summonda1500
interpellation1579
butterfly1583
exploit1622
monition1649
cital1760
venire1763
exaction1816
assignation1884
blister1903
bluey1909
blue1939
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Kviiv If the poore man haue not wherewith to pay..out go butter-flies and writs, as thick as haile.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > cage > equipment used with
keep1849
butterfly1882
overwindera1884
shoe1883
slipper1883
kep1893
1882 Western Morning News 25 Nov. 5/6 The ascending cage was hurled into the headgear, smashing the butterflies and breaking the engine rope, and had it not been for the remaining butterflies the cage must have fallen to the bottom.
1887 Daily News 11 Jan. 2/7 The butterfly apparatus..had acted, but..the bolts..were torn away.
1909 Daily Chron. 8 Jan. 5/3 When the winding rope was detached the safety ‘butterfly’ catches failed to act.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles (plying) for hire > [noun] > hackney carriage > specific types of hackney carriage > guide for reins
butterfly1883
1883 Standard 6 Mar. 6/3 The box covered the whole roof of the cab, preventing him [sc. the cabman] from seeing the ‘butterfly’.
1885 M. J. Rowley & C. A. Wheeler Specif. Patent 14,398 The butterfly, or bracket, is screwed to the top of the Hansom cab.
1911 B. Swift Old Dance Master i. 1 The burnished, silver-mounted ‘butterfly’ through which the long reins pass before they reach the driver's hands.
6. Swimming. A stroke in swimming in which both arms are raised out of the water and lifted forwards together while the legs are brought up and down in unison with an undulating motion (cf. butterfly kick n. 1).Cf. earlier butterfly stroke at Compounds 1a(e).
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the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > swimming > stroke > specific
hand over hand1844
sidestroke1852
breast swimming1861
steamer1861
breaststroke1864
dog paddle1874
backstroke1876
trudgen1893
frog kick1896
overstroke1902
scissors kick1902
crawl1903
scissors1908
freestyle1916
doggy paddle1921
front crawl1924
back-crawl1929
butterfly stroke1934
butterfly1936
butterfly kick1937
1936 N.Y. Times 15 Aug. 8/2 Higgins..used the butterfly only at the beginning and end [of the race].
1938 Times 10 Aug. 6 The butterfly, it may be explained, is made by recovering both arms at once out of the water.
1979 N. Farah Sweet & Sour Milk 12 He swam away doing the butterfly.
2008 Prevention Mar. 67 I was a pro at the 200-meter butterfly.
Phrases
to break a butterfly on a wheel and variants: to use unnecessary force in destroying something fragile. Hence also butterfly on a wheel: a weak or vulnerable person destroyed by, or at the mercy of, significantly more powerful people, institutions, or processes.Originally with reference to a wheel used as an instrument of torture (see wheel n. 2a and cf. to break on the wheel at break v. 7b).
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the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (intransitive)] > use excessive force to destroy
to break a butterfly on a wheel1734
1734 A. Pope Epist. to Arbuthnot 15 Satire or Shame alas! can Paris feel? Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?
1788 Crit. Rev. Jan. 75 We never wish to break a butterfly on a wheel, and often praise where the severity of criticism might have checked the tender mercies which well-meant endeavours have drawn from our tribunal.
1809 Lit. Panorama Oct. 88 So very depraved is the Stage become, that to criticize a modern English Opera now is as silly an undertaking as to break a butterfly on the wheel.
1875 A. Trollope Way we live Now I. ix. 70 One doesn't want to break a butterfly on the wheel.
1921 Mod. Lang. Notes 36 182 Are we breaking this delicate butterfly unnecessarily upon the wheel, by over-complexity of conjecture?
1931 W. Holtby Poor Caroline vi. 213 I can't bear to see a woman in the dock—butterfly on the wheel.
1951 N. Annan Leslie Stephen 292 Why break a butterfly on the wheel of scholarship?
1990 W. Hussey Butterfly on a Wheel (transcribed from song, perf. ‘The Mission’) Love breaks the wings of a butterfly on a wheel.
2002 M. E. Abbott Street was Mine iii. 76 Marlowe is thus a butterfly on a wheel, spinning at the hands of brutish and gorgeous thugs.
2002 Times 12 Aug. (T2 section) 19/2 There were plenty of implausibilities in Ella and the Mothers, if you stopped and thought about it too much, but that would be to break a butterfly upon a wheel.
Compounds
C1.
a.
(a) General attributive (in senses 2a, 2b) with the senses: ‘vain, capricious, frivolous, showy’; ‘flimsy, fragile, ephemeral’.
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1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. V2 As vnfainedly and sincerely as in his first butter-fly Pamphlet against Greene he praisd me for that proper yong man, Greenes fellow Writer.
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον vi. 298 Iulia on the contrarie, loosely and wantonly habited, had in her traine none but butterflie-pages, wild fashion-mongers, and fantasticke gallants.
1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 103 The Bawd furnisheth them with Butterfly Garments.
1728 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) I. 165 All the butterfly men were at court last night.
1756 E. Haywood Wife iv. 29 I cannot help but heartily pitying the husbands of those butterfly wives who are every day flaunting in the Mall.
1832 Spectator 10 Oct. 996/1 Everybody loved Jack Taylor—he was thoroughly harmless—a kind and affectionate creature, with all kinds of light pleasantry fluttering across his butterfly brain.
1857 Child's Compan. Jan. 25 Perhaps they were butterfly thoughts..flitting from one thing to another but fixing upon nothing.
1917 Writer Apr. 86/1 Why send us a fluffy story opening with a boudoir talk between Mabel and Lucille about their silly, sugary love-affairs, or stories of dull domestic or butterfly society life?
1982 J. Krantz Mistral's Daughter (1983) xiv. 200 Their ranks grew to many dozens, exquisite girls, butterfly girls who were so much more glamorous, so clearly more sophisticated than their only rivals.
2012 Dominion Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 29 Sept. 32 His butterfly mind has often moved on to the next thought within the space of a single sentence.
(b) General attributive (in sense 1a) with the sense ‘of, relating to, or reminiscent of a butterfly or butterflies’.
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1658 Sir T. Browne Garden of Cyrus iiii, in Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall 180 Handsomely observable in hooded and gaping flowers, and the Butterfly bloomes of leguminous plants.
1795 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana 229 The Virtuoso itch, For making a rare butterfly collection.
1847–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. i. 171/2 The butterfly movement of the wings being most commonly resorted to.
1895 Argosy Nov. 130/2 It oscillated in the breath of air stirring, and after a few butterfly gyrations, alighted in the eager clutch of Jimmie.
1911 J. Muir My First Summer in Sierra 172 His trousers..have become so adhesive with the mixed fat and resin that..moth and butterfly wings, legs and antennae of innumerable insects, or even whole insects..adhere to them.
1984 R. M. Pyle Audubon Soc. Handbk. for Butterfly Watchers xiii. 161 (caption) Hunting butterfly eggs in order to rear them out requires special watchfulness.
1988 Evolution 42 303/2 Most cases of independent evolution of gregariousness in butterfly larvae are preceded by the evolution of aposematism.
2001 Nature 31 May 531/1 The size of Britain's butterfly fauna elicits expressions of sympathy from lepidopterists elsewhere.
(c) attributive. Designating an (adhesive) bandage consisting of a thin strip of material with wider ends, typically used to hold the edges of a wound together; esp. in butterfly bandage, butterfly strip. See also butterfly clip n. (c) at Compounds 2a, butterfly stitch n. (b) at Compounds 2a.
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1895 R. Guiteras in Med. News 6 Apr. 366/2 I also..show my patients how to make a butterfly-dressing to soak up the discharge.
1895 Virginia Med. Monthly May 225 To catch the discharge, a butterfly bandage should be used.
1939 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 44 400/1 The method is an outgrowth of the time honored procedure of closing small superficial wounds with butterfly strips of adhesive.
1995 Jrnl. Safety Res. 26 65/1 The wounds are about 3 cm long and superficial. They are cleaned and closed using butterfly plasters.
2003 B. Wagner Still Holding i. 36 A butterfly bandage graced his temple.
2008 E. M. Stasiak Your New Baby v. 123 When shopping for a first-aid kit, be sure it contains..antibiotic ointment, burn-cooling gel, butterfly closures, [etc.].
(d) attributive. Designating a piece of meat or fish split almost in half and opened flat, or a dish made with this cut of meat or fish. Cf. butterfly v. 2.
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1932 Humboldt (Iowa) Republican 30 Sept. 8/4 (caption) The new butterfly chops, one of the many new ideas in pork cuts.
1955 F. G. Ashbrook Butchering, Processing & Preserv. Meat xii. 171 Butterfly Fillets are the two sides of the fish corresponding to two single fillets held together by uncut flesh and the skin.
1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Aug. 40/3 A choice of 14 entrees, including Butterfly Steak stuffed with summer sausage and raisins.
1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide 567 The food can run to the finest steaks or prettily presented butterfly prawns.
2000 Esquire July 87/3 For parties of 20 or more, cook a butterfly leg of lamb—it's really simple.
(e) attributive. Swimming. Designating a stroke in swimming in which both arms are raised out of the water and lifted forwards together while the legs are brought up and down in unison with an undulating motion; of, relating to, or involving this stroke. Frequently in butterfly stroke. Cf. sense 6, and butterfly kick n. 1.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [adjective] > swimming > specific stroke
underhand1705
hand over hand1849
overhand1876
overarm1887
under-arm1905
butterfly1934
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > swimming > stroke > specific
hand over hand1844
sidestroke1852
breast swimming1861
steamer1861
breaststroke1864
dog paddle1874
backstroke1876
trudgen1893
frog kick1896
overstroke1902
scissors kick1902
crawl1903
scissors1908
freestyle1916
doggy paddle1921
front crawl1924
back-crawl1929
butterfly stroke1934
butterfly1936
butterfly kick1937
1934 N.Y. Times 16 July 19/4 He won because he used the unorthodox ‘butterfly stroke’ that still is considered legal in spite of the storms of protest its adoption has caused.
1937 Official Rep. XIth Olympiad 1936 168 The breast stroke swimmers used the butterfly style, which was a failure.
1968 Cumberland News 24 Jan. 36/3 Mark Redmond copped the 20-yard breaststroke and Rob Alderson took the 20-yard butterfly event.
1970 Wilson Bull. 82 220 The floating eagle propelled itself toward shore by slow rhythmic beats of its outstretched wings, much like a human swimmer using the butterfly breast stroke.
2014 J. Costello Time of our Lives 355 A vigorous session of butterfly stroke in the swimming pool.
(f) attributive. Designating glasses with frames that arch upwards from the bridge and have a comparatively narrow bottom edge, particularly fashionable in the 1950s and 60s.
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1942 Independent Woman Apr. 125/3 (caption) Her new butterfly frames are the same color as her red lipstick.
1962 H. Calisher Tale for Mirror 124 Hair..coiffed not ten minutes before, butterfly glasses with this year's line of twisted gold at the bridge.
1973 Times 30 Oct. 16/7 Bartlett..wears butterfly spectacles like [Mary] Whitehouse.
2000 Advertiser (Brisbane) (Nexis) 14 Sept. 20 With lilac hair, a sequined jacket and butterfly glasses,..Dame Edna Everage, housewife, superstar..—alias comic Barry Humphries.
b. Objective, parasynthetic, and instrumental, as butterfly-brained, butterfly-catching, butterfly-hunting, etc.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > [noun] > hunting or catching insects
butterfly-catching1796
butterfly-hunting1796
bee-hunting1824
mothing1826
bee-hunt1835
wasp-nesting1872
bug chasing1875
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > light-mindedness > [adjective]
lightlyeOE
lightOE
lightsomea1425
flying1509
light-minded?1529
tickle or light of the sear?1530
giddya1547
light-headed1549
gidded1563
giddish1566
fling-brained1570
tickle-headed1583
toyish1584
shallow1594
leger1598
corky1601
barmy1602
airy1609
unfirma1616
unballast1622
cork-brained1630
unballasted1644
kickshawa1655
unserious1655
unstudious1663
flirtishc1665
caper-witteda1670
shatter-headedc1686
corky-brained1699
flea-lugged1724
halokit1724
shatter-brained1727
scattered-brained1747
shatter-witted1775
flippant1791
butterfly-brained1796
scatter-brained1804
gossamer1806
shandy-pated1806
shattery1820
barmy-brained1823
papilionaceous1832
flirtatious1834
flirty1840
Micawberish1859
scatterheaded1867
flibberty-gibberty1879
thistledown1897
shatter-pated1901
trivial-minded1905
scattery1924
fizgig1928
ditzy1979
1796 J. Owen Trav. Europe I. lii. 265 A German baron, whose penchant for butterfly-hunting was extraordinary.
1838 Morning Chron. 19 Apr. The predicament in which our pair of ‘butterfly-brained’ baronets stand.
1881 J. Payn Grape from Thorn I. ii. 29 His only exercise (he was an entomologist) being butterfly-catching.
1881 G. Allen Vignettes from Nature iv. 31 The date when flower-hunting and butterfly-hunting both begin.
1948 Life 6 Sept. 54/1 (caption) Butterfly-collecting is fun since wild flowers attract them plentifully.
1961 Times 6 Dec. 17/3 The butterfly-brained society hostess.
1990 Field Jan. 79 Buddleia Corner—a bee-busy, butterfly-haunted place kept warm by sheltering hedges.
2002 Independent 26 Sept. (Review section) 21/4 This is further proof that BBC1's science programmes have been comprehensively cabled, capitulating to the butterfly-minded style of Bravo and the Discovery channel.
2002 D. Monkman Nature's Year in Kawarthas vi. 141 Butterfly-watching is at its most productive in late June and early July since the greatest number of different species is aflight at this time.
C2.
a. † butterfly aeroplane n. Obsolete any of various lightweight aeroplanes.Chiefly with reference to the Demoiselle series of aeroplanes built by aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873–1932). [Butterfly is only an approximate translation of French demoiselle damselfly (see demoiselle n.).] † butterfly clack n. British (Obsolete rare) a pair of flap valves consisting a single piece of flexible material (typically leather) fastened down in the middle to form a hinge; = butterfly valve n. (a).
ΚΠ
1908 Syracuse (Indiana) Jrnl. 27 Aug. Notable airship flights and records... Santos Dumont, in Butterfly aeroplane, 150 meters in Paris, Nov. 10, 1907.
1909 Manch. Guardian 6 Jan. 8/5 M. Santos Dumont's butterfly aeroplane, named the Demoiselle, has the distinction of being the neatest and lightest exhibit.
1909 Daily Chron. 10 Aug. 1/5 The Stewart-Brownell combination..have been preparing..what they call a ‘butterfly aeroplane’.
butterfly ballot n. chiefly U.S. colloquial a machine-readable ballot paper having the names of the candidates printed on either side of a column of punched holes, which the voter pierces to select his or her preferred candidate.Particularly associated with the ballot paper used in Florida during the U.S. Presidential elections in 2000, which was claimed to have confused Democratic voters into selecting the wrong candidate.
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2000 N.Y. Observer 20 Nov. 4/2 Members of this demographic..suddenly came forward to say they had been precipitated into senior moments by a butterfly ballot.
2008 Independent 1 Nov. 3/2 Hanging chads and butterfly ballots decided the outcome, and ushered in..the most inept and disastrous presidency of the modern era.
2011 R. K. Scher Politics of Disenfranchisement v. 115 The famous ‘butterfly ballot’ in Palm Beach County, Florida (where Pat Buchanan received thousands of votes apparently meant for Al Gore).
butterfly block n. Nautical (now rare) a small block consisting of two wings, each wing containing a wheel for a chain to pass over.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > tackle or purchase > [noun] > system of) pulley(s) > specific forms of block
snap-block1626
tail-block1769
notch-block1788
strap-bound-block1794
monkey1834
strap-block1875
butterfly block1882
1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 41 Rollers or butterfly blocks are fitted to bands round the yard.
1933 C. N. Longridge ‘Cutty Sark’ II. vii. 148 In the later ships, the two blocks were therefore replaced by a single butterfly block with two sheaves, which was shackled to an eye under the central sling band.
butterfly bomb n. now historical A type of small bomb with a cylindrical casing designed to spring open (forming a shape thought to resemble a butterfly) and rotate as the bomb descends.By means of a spindle connecting the casing to the device's fuse, the rotation of the open casing arms the explosive device.The butterfly bomb was first developed by Germany in the Second World War.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > explosive device > [noun] > bomb > other bombs
iron bomb1759
suicide bomb1889
crump1914
radio bomb1914
marmite1915
pineapple bomb1916
pineapple1918
germ bomb1921
stick-bomb1928
bomblet1937
breadbasket1940
flash bomb1940
blockbuster1942
butterfly bomb1942
screamer1942
plastic bomb1944
napalm bomb1945
mail bomb1972
blast bomb1976
1942 Bomb Reconnaissance (U.S. War Dept.) ii. ii. 23 2 Kg. Antipersonnel ‘Butterfly’ Bomb.
1972 Daily Tel. 1 Sept. (Colour Suppl.) 16/2 In the last war the Germans devised a series of anti-personnel devices, including the S-mine & the ‘butterfly-bomb’.
2015 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 22 Oct. When peace was declared in May 1945, the men of Bomb Disposal had defused about 40,000 high explosive bombs, 5,700 butterfly bombs and another 6,900 anti-aircraft shells and incendiaries.
butterfly bow n. a bow having the loops, or loop and end, on each side spread apart like the open wings of a butterfly; spec. a bow tie having the loops spread apart in this way (cf. butterfly tie n.).
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > bow
butterfly bow1830
pussycat bow1902
pussy-bow1946
1830 Ladies' Museum Feb. 117 Large butterfly bows, or else ends of very broad riband, or of silk, arranged in the form of butterfly's wings..is the favourite style of trimming.
1888 Cassell's Family Mag. Feb. 182/1 A bonnet à la Folle, with a tricoloured butterfly bow at the top.
1920 Punch 4 Aug. 97/2 The wearing of a butterfly bow with a double event collar was a solecism past forgiveness.
1971 Vogue (U.S. ed.) 15 Nov. 59/2 To go out, a dark velvet suit or bottle-green suède suit, butterfly bow in black velvet. If a tie is not demanded, a cashmere turtleneck, or ecru-color shirt in rough peasant cotton.
1992 N.Y. Mag. 28 Sept. 65/1 A size 6 off-the-shoulder bridal dress with a duchesse-silk-satin top, layered tulle skirt, and butterfly bow in the back.
butterfly cake n. (a) a pressed cake made from bugong moths, formerly used as food by Australian Aboriginal people (rare); (b) a small sponge cake which has had a portion of the top removed, divided into two, and then reset with buttercream, etc., so as to resemble a butterfly's wings.
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1906 N.Y. Times 13 May x. 4/7 The bodies and the oil are then made into the famous bugong or butterfly cakes.
1910 Table Talk Sept. 495/2 The ice cream may be served in yellow rose cases and should be accompanied by small butterfly cakes iced with white.
1932 Adelaide Chron. 4 Aug. 58/1 Butterfly cakes... Cut off the tops and fill them with whipped cream or vanilla filling. Cut the pieces of the tops in halves and put on top of cream to look like butterflies' wings.
1951 Irish Times 24 May 6/4 Butterfly cakes will please everyone. Children will love the way the little wings are set on top of luscious, creamy whorls.
2009 M. Berry Baking Bible 118 Butterfly cakes are quick and easy to make and very effective for a children's party.
butterfly chair n. any of various chairs resembling a butterfly in shape; spec. a (foldable) type of sling chair having a tubular steel frame made from two stylized butterfly shapes joined together, with a piece of canvas, leather, etc., suspended from its four apexes.
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1892 Dundee Courier & Argus 23 Dec. 6/3 Among the newest basket chairs are the butterfly chairs with plush introduced and a high-backed one with seat and back in Indian colours.
1952 N.Y. Times Mag. 20 July 35/4 (advt.) Butterfly chair. Deluxe model. Heavy black steel frame. Durable removable canvas sling.
1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 13 Sept. (Home section) 20 Butterfly chairs, with canvas, black leather or ponyskin covers.
2005 J. Miller Furniture 441/1 Also known as the A chair, the Hardoy chair, the Sling chair, and the Butterfly chair, the B.K.F. chair is named for its designers.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > pump > [noun] > valves
clap1626
clack1634
clapper1769
butterfly valve1809
suction valve1831
clack-valve1850
shoe-valve1858
butterfly clack1859
trap-valve1877
1859 W. J. M. Rankine Man. Steam Engine ii. iv. 123 A pair of flap valves placed hinge to hinge (usually made of one piece of leather fastened down in the middle) constitute a ‘butterfly clack’.
1913 Power 12 Aug. 243/2 Sometimes they are made of one piece of leather fastened down in the middle and often known in English practice as a ‘butterfly clack’.
butterfly clip n. any of various clips that resemble a butterfly, typically in having two large sides attached to a thin middle part; esp. (a) a small stud with two long flat pointed pieces that are pushed though the surface or surfaces to be attached and the pieces opened out behind, used to fasten papers together; a paper fastener; (b) a sprung hair clip, typically one with two jaws opened by a finger-piece or finger-pieces that resemble butterfly wings; (c) a type of (adhesive) plaster consisting of a thin strip with two wider ends, used to hold the edges of a wound together; cf. Compounds 1a(c).
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1874 Eng. Mech. 13 Feb. 540/2 I use..a..rantoon, the wheels wood,..iron tires, for which I bought rubber tires with butterfly clips, patented.
1912 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 48 18 The heaters..consisting merely of a single radiator lamp with a concave bright metal reflector, a butterfly clip being attached at the back for the purpose of clipping on to the leg of a table.
1962 Illustr. Catal. Public Information Materials (U.S. Dept. of Health, Educ. & Welfare, Social Security Admin.)) vii. D- 29/1 Posters..can be mounted with..‘Butterfly’ clips (brass paper fasteners with 1″ shank).
1963 San Antonio (Texas) Express & News 24 Feb. 2 d/1 The doctor wanted to use several stitches but Salazar and his handlers refused, insisting that ‘butterfly’ clips heal the wound faster.
1965 P. White Season at Sarsaparilla ii, in Four Plays 132 (stage direct.) Girlie enters. She is dressed, but is wearing butterfly clips. Could be without her teeth. Anyway, she averts her face.
1993 J. Day Small Business in Tough Times viii. 210 Never throw out anything with a paper clip or butterfly clip still attached.
2010 G. March Cat, Belly Dancer, & Cello 32 Long chestnut hair held high with a butterfly clip.
2013 S. Altschuler Exposed i. 3 We have to stem the flow of blood... It doesn't look too bad, maybe a butterfly clip is all.
butterfly cock n. rare a tap or other valve equipped with a handle which has two projections thought to resemble wings.
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1868 Technologisches Wörterbuch III. 507/2 Robinet papillion, Butterfly-cock, winged tap.
1963 H. Calisher Textures of Life 15 To their left, water dripped into a sink from a single tap, flanked by a toilet in a half-open stall and a laocoön of pipes tipped with a butterfly cock that might once have meant gas.
butterfly collar n. any of various collars resembling the shape of a butterfly's wings; esp. (a) a type of wing collar having rounded wing tips, popular in the early 20th cent.; (b) a shirt collar having two long pointed or rounded wings, popular in the 1970s.
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1893 N.Y. Times 6 Feb. 8/5 Medium weight cloth Capes, with Butterfly Collar of velvet, silk lined, ribbon trimming.
1904 T.P.'s Weekly 17 June 803/2 (advt.) The David Hope New Regd. Fashionable Butterfly Collar (4-fold pure Irish Linen, as illustrated).
1988 ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ & ‘The Fresh Prince’ Parents just don't Understand (transcribed from song) in He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper I said, ‘Mom, this shirt is plaid with a butterfly collar!’
2003 Times (Nexis) 30 May (Weekend section) 9 White tie means black evening tails.., a starched white shirt with butterfly collar, white waistcoat, white bow tie, [etc.].
2014 J. B. Morrison Extra Ordinary Life Frank Derrick ix. 55 He was wearing..a yellow shirt with a butterfly collar..and huge-flared trousers.
butterfly collector n. a person who catches butterflies and preserves them as a collection for study or as a hobby.
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1824 L. Jermyn (title) The butterfly collector's vade mecum.
1905 Country Life in Amer. Apr. 652/2 The butterfly collector must have the scientific temperament and a delight in the outdoor chase.
2004 Daily Tel. 26 July 15/1 Not since Victorian butterfly collectors scampered across..meadows brandishing large nets has there been such a passion for lepidoptery.
butterfly farm n. a place (typically a glass enclosure, area of a park, etc.) providing a suitable environment for butterflies to be bred, reared, or exhibited, variously as a public attraction, for research, or for sale.
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1887 Country Gentleman 22 Oct. 1418/1 Why, if such daring deeds were to take place any day on the turf as occur every morning on the Stock Exchange the Jockey Club would have to warn everybody off and turn their establishments into butterfly farms.
1892 Spectator 2 Apr. 460/1 His garden was soon turned into a butterfly-farm.
1966 Country Life 22 Sept. 732/1 On their butterfly farm in Dorset they raise many fascinating and exotic species of butterfly.
2003 P. Thomas & A. Vaitlingam Jamaica: Rough Guide (ed. 3) 354 Plans are afoot to create a butterfly farm here, too; the owners hope to start a breeding programme for Jamaica's giant swallowtail butterflies.
butterfly garden n. a garden that provides an environment that attracts butterflies, as well as certain moths; (also) a large glass enclosure, area of a park, etc., providing a protective environment for butterflies and plants as a public attraction or for study or research (cf. butterfly house n.).
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1898 Speaker 12 Mar. 328/2 Over one end of the wall a plant of everlasting-pea has thrown its cascade of gorgeous rose-pink blossom. Saffron butterflies pirouette above it... It is a butterfly garden.
1904 Leisure Hour Dec. 158/1 We spend infinite pains and toil planting and tending a flower garden; why not have a butterfly garden too? Think of it..: a mass of green food plants giving birth daily to a host of gaily-coloured, velvet-winged insects.
1984 R. M. Pyle Audubon Soc. Handbk. for Butterfly Watchers xii. 143 Add a patch of annuals—sweet William, zinnias, and marigolds for starters..and you have a basic butterfly garden.
2017 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 24 Jan. Its [sc. Singapore's airport] offerings include..a swimming pool, a six-metre waterfall and a butterfly garden housing 1,000 species.
butterfly gardening n. the action or practice of cultivating or laying out a garden designed to attract butterflies, esp. as a hobby.
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1901 Spectator 16 Mar. 383/2 Public advisers in papilio culture, the Miss Jekylls of butterfly gardening, ready with counsel as to how to bring on late second broods of tortoiseshells to grace the autumn borders.
2016 UNI (India) (Nexis) 2 June Butterfly gardening is often aimed at inviting..butterflies and moths to lay eggs as well.
butterfly house n. a large (typically heated) glass enclosure providing a protective environment for butterflies and plants as a public attraction or for study or research.
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1881 York Herald 5 Sept. 3/4 When Dr. Sclater succeeded..as secretary of the Zoological Society.., there was one thing still to be done, to open a butterfly house.
1986 Times (Nexis) 19 July In the warm and damp Butterfly House, honeysuckles..mingle with unfamiliar exotic plants.., carefully chosen to nourish the spectacular butterflies that flutter unafraid among the visitors.
2014 S. R. Shaw Planet of Bugs v. 70 Judging from the growing popularity of butterfly houses and insect zoos, it appears that most people gain pleasure from the sight of butterflies in flight.
butterfly kiss n. (a) a light kiss in which the lips only brush the skin; (b) an act of affectionately fluttering one's eyelashes against a person's skin.
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the mind > emotion > love > kiss > [noun] > kiss with the eyelashes
butterfly kiss1849
1849 Godey's Lady's Bk. Oct. 229/1 The light butterfly kiss of ceremony.
1871 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch (1872) I. i. v. 73 Celia knelt down..and gave her little butterfly kiss.
1883 E. Lynn Linton Ione I. vi. 136 Making her eyelids ache with her butterfly kisses!
1932 E. Waugh Black Mischief ii. 58 ‘I've invented a new way of kissing. You do it with your eye-lashes.’ ‘I've known that for years. It's called a butterfly kiss.’
2001 C. Glazebrook Madolescents 98 He plants a butterfly kiss on my mouth and soon we're having a full-blown snog, tongues, the lot.
2005 N. Laird Utterly Monkey 231 Her lashes brushed against his cheekbone. ‘That's a butterfly kiss.’ She'd pulled away.
butterfly knife n. (a) a folding pocket knife with a handle consisting of two parts which divide and pivot round to enclose the blade, typically used as a weapon; = balisong n.; (b) a short sword with a single sharp edge, typically one of a pair, used in wing chun and certain other forms of kung fu; = butterfly sword n. [In sense (b) after Chinese húdié shuāngdāo lit. ‘butterfly double knife (or sword)’.]
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1970 Argus (Fremont-Newark, Calif.) 30 June 15/3 After he had picked up the two hitchhikers, one of them pulled a butterfly knife and said, ‘We would appreciate a ride to Richmond.’
1974 Black Belt Nov. 15/1 During a ‘double butterfly vs. spear’ set..another weapon sailed off the stage... A butterfly knife.
1992 J. W. Smith Wing Chun Kung-Fu III. ii. 50 A Wing Chun fighter armed with only the butterfly knives would have difficulty fighting against an opponent armed with a spear.
2006 Daily Tel. 28 July 8/5 We disarmed two men, one with a bottle..and one with a butterfly knife.
butterfly lupus n. lupus erythematosus which causes a rash on the bridge of the nose and the adjacent parts of the cheeks; cf. butterfly rash n.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > eruptive diseases > [noun] > lupus
noli me tangerea1398
touch-me-notc1450
wolf1559
lupus1583
lupus erythematosus1852
lupus vulgaris1852
butterfly lupus1879
minimus1886
SLE1958
1879 W. T. Fox & T. C. Fox Epitome Skin Dis. (Amer. ed. 2) ii. 136 Often there is a patch under each eye, and if these bridge together and form a junction over the nose, the appearance of a butterfly is produced, hence the term butterfly lupus.
1949 Hygeia July 504/1 The uncommon lupus erythematosus, or butterfly lupus,..has frequently been known to follow sunburn.
2018 @rosemurray 2 Jan. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) I had ‘butterfly lupus’ as a child, missed a LOT of school.
butterfly net n. a hand-held net with a fine mesh and a long handle, used to catch butterflies; also figurative, esp. denoting such a net fancifully imagined as being used to catch a person and escort them to a psychiatric hospital.
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the world > life > biology > collection or conservation of natural specimens > [noun] > equipment for collecting or preserving > of butterflies
fly-net1737
butterfly net1806
1806 J. Sowerby Brit. Misc. I. 95 Perhaps a butterfly-net might be used with success about banks where we observe many burrows of insects.
1827 M. Wilmot Jrnl. 25 July in More Lett. (1935) 278 Edmund and Wilmot amused themselves with their butterfly nets.
1939 T. S. Eliot Family Reunion ii. i. 77 The day I lost my butterfly net.
1983 W. Goldman Adventures in Screen Trade 88 You can pray that the man with the butterfly net catches up to that kid before he does permanent damage.
1998 Time 19 Jan. 30/1 Another chaotic week ends, leaving Miamians to wonder how long before the white-suited men with butterfly nets come to take the mayor away.
2017 Washington Post (Nexis) 30 Mar. t16 If I find a fly in the house, I catch it in a butterfly net and set it free.
butterfly nose n. a dog's nose when spotted or mottled.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > parts of > (parts of) head, neck and face
race?1523
worm1530
rake1685
apple head1830
hackles1839
stop1867
butterfly nose1878
lay-back1894
1878 Country 11 May 39/1 A light- colored (‘Dudley’) or a parti-colored (‘butterfly’) nose is especially objected to.
1937 Amer. Kennel Gaz. 1 Sept. 46/1 When we have a hunting breed to appraise, a butterfly nose must be rated just as keen scented as a nose of normal color.
2002 J. Cunliffe Encycl. Dog Breeds (new ed.) 36/1 A butterfly nose, sometimes called a spotted nose, is considered an undesirable nose colour in many breeds.
butterfly nut n. a nut having two flat projections, thought to resemble wings, on either side which allow the nut to be turned by hand; = wing-nut at wing n. Compounds 1a(e).
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > nut > wing-nut
wing-nut1775
fly-nut1825
butterfly nut1849
1849 Repertory Patent Inventions 13 384 A screw-pin..with a wide head above, and a butterfly nut below.
1925 Morris Owner's Man. 71 Under the butterfly nut at the back of the bonnet hinge.
2011 A. R. Edwards Slope Kongwa Hill xv. 181 It was an uncomfortable crossbar to ride, due to the butterfly nut located at a tactically inopportune place.
butterfly rash n. Medicine a rash confined mainly to the bridge of the nose and the adjacent parts of the cheeks, seen especially in lupus erythematosus and in rosacea and certain other skin disorders; cf. butterfly lupus n.The likeness of the shape of the rash to that of a butterfly was first pointed out by the Austrian dermatologist Ferdinand von Hebra in 1845 or 1846.
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1871 A. Pullar tr. I. Neumann Text-bk. Skin Dis. 253 The efflorescence becomes confluent, and on the nose and cheeks, the patch assumes the form of a butterfly,—the body being represented by the nose,—the wings by the cheeks.]
1895 St. Bartholomew's Hosp. Rep. 31 310 Three photographs..taken of a man aged 45, showing the characteristic ‘butterfly’ rash of Lupus Erythematosus.
1969 Hutchinson (Kansas) News 23 July 22/1 Butterfly rashes occur from other causes [than rosacea].
2007 D. S. Smith Field Guide Bedside Diagnosis (ed. 2) lxxv. 178 A classic butterfly rash occurs in 40% [of cases of systemic lupus erythematosus] and is exacerbated by sun exposure.
butterfly screw n. a bolt having two flat protections, thought to resemble wings, either side of the head which allow the bolt to be turned by hand.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > screw > for turning with finger and thumb
finger screw1768
thumbscrew1795
butterfly screw1861
1861 Welcome Guest 4 342/1 The attendant then slips the breastplate over his head..and, with butterfly screws, covered by a vulcanized India-rubber band, fastens it to the dress.
1916 New Phytologist 15 195 By means of the butterfly screws they can be screwed tightly so that no movement of the individual blocks is possible.
2000 Sunday Times (Nexis) 25 June Quirky taste can be yours as long as you know how to fit a butterfly screw properly.
butterfly-shaped adj. Botany (of a flower) having a corolla arranged in a form resembling a butterfly; (also) denoting such a corolla; esp. as characteristic of leguminous plants (cf. papilionaceous adj. 2).
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having particular shape, form, or arrangement
papilionaceous1668
umbellated1682
fistulous1690
umbelliferous1753
umbellate1760
butterfly-shaped1763
starry-eyed1793
umbelled1793
agglomerate1849
macrostylous1857
mesostylous1887
umbelliform1891
1763 J. Wheeler Botanist's & Gardener's New Dict. p. xxiii The corolla is papilionaceous, or of the butterfly-shaped kind.
1880 Girl's Own Paper 29 May 349/2 The pea tribe, with butterfly-shaped flowers (leguminosæ) has nearly seven thousand species in it.
1979 Trop. Legumes: Resources for Future (National Acad. Sci.–National Res. Council (U.S.)) vii. 261 Copious clusters of scarlet, butterfly-shaped blossoms appear in bunches along the branches.
2014 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 16 July (Metro ed.) e1 Moth orchids are prized for their long-lasting, butterfly-shaped flowers.
butterfly stitch n. (a) any of various stitches used in knitting, crochet, etc., to make a butterfly pattern; (b) a type of (adhesive) plaster consisting of a thin strip with two wider ends, used to hold the edges of a wound together; cf. Compounds 1a(c).
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1891 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Sept. 19/2 (heading) An Infant's Dress Yoke. Butterfly Stitch.
1941 San Antonio (Texas) Express 1 Apr. 7/2 This sweater is knitted in the new butterfly stitch. It is easy to make and as dainty as it is durable.
1945 U.S. Naval Med. Bull. 44 588 Swelling and suppuration occurred..which made it necessary to remove the remaining sutures and substitute a butterfly stitch.
2009 L. Zukaite LuxeKnits Introd. 7 You'll..discover something new..about smocking stitch, herringbone pattern, butterfly stitch, [etc.].
2016 Guardian (Nexis) 20 Mar. A..gash along his nose..bound..by a set of butterfly stitches which added a flash of bright white to his rainbow array of bruises.
butterfly stomach n. a fluttering sensation felt in the stomach as a result of nervousness or apprehensive excitement; cf. sense to have butterflies in the stomach at sense 1b, butterfly tummy n.
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1943 Word Study Oct. 6/1 The expression some aviators use to describe their condition before taking off. They have ‘butterfly stomach’, they say, so marked is the fluttering in the Department of the Interior.
1997 Burlington (N. Carolina) Times-News 13 Feb. b1 There were enough exciting games to guarantee at least one case of butterfly stomach per week.
2011 Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania) (Nexis) 25 Nov. 4 Filmmaker Luke Doolan confessed to suffering a ‘butterfly stomach’ while his new short film Cryo had its world premiere.
butterfly sword n. a short sword with a single sharp edge, typically one of a pair, used in wing chun and certain other forms of kung fu; frequently also known as butterfly knife (see butterfly knife n. (b)). [After Chinese húdié shuāngdāo lit. ‘butterfly double knife (or sword)’ (see butterfly knife n.).]
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1974 V. Glaessner Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance iii. 21/2 Twin butterfly swords, sticks and staves, daggers and the whole repertoire of more fanciful weaponry..displayed.
1993 Sunday Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 3 Oct. (caption) Collette uses butterfly swords to fend off Zoe, wielding a three-section staff as father Michael looks on.
2015 B. N. Judkins & J. Nielson Creation Wing Chun ii. 94 The ‘double swords’ noted..are the direct ancestors of the hudiedao (or butterfly swords) that are still used in Wing Chun, Choy Li Fut, and Hung Gar today.
butterfly table n. Originally North American a kind of drop-leaf table having wing-shaped supports for the table leaves.
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1901 E. Singleton Furnit. of Forefathers III. 202 An oval table of oak, of rough work... The design is now popularly called the ‘butterfly table’.
1925 Amer. Mercury Mar. 355/2 When little butterfly tables, so called, with warped maple tops, sell for $575 apiece, it is their age and rarity which bring the extravagant price.
1994 Canad. Workshop July 59/1 I built this double drop-leaf table—sometimes called a butterfly table—as a birthday present for my wife.
butterfly tie n. a bow tie; (spec.) = butterfly bow n.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > neck-wear > [noun] > neck-tie or cravat > neck-tie > types of > bow-tie > types of
white tie1849
black tie1851
butterfly tie1865
string tie1895
1865 Daily Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 9 Mar. (advt.) Butterfly Ties, (for Paper Collars).
1887 E. Custer Tenting on Plains (1889) xv. 502 It was then the fashion for men to wear a tiny neck-bow, called a butterfly tie.
1914 G. K. Chesterton Wisdom of Father Brown xi. 264 A very young gentleman with..a black butterfly tie.
2007 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 16 Jan. 9 Black-and-white butterfly ties with formal evening wear looked spirited.
butterfly tummy n. a fluttering sensation felt in the stomach as a result of nervousness or apprehensive excitement; cf. to have butterflies in the stomach at sense 1b, butterfly stomach n.
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1941 Big Spring (Texas) Daily Herald 17 Apr. 7/3 Two players with ‘butterfly tummy’—that sinking feeling which strikes on the first tee—were paired today at the quarter-finals of the Texas Women's Golf association tournament.
1969 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 9 July 6/7 With the proverbial sweating palms and butterfly tummy, I taxied to the end of the runway, did everything I was supposed to, added a big swallow and started rolling.
2007 Sunday Times (Nexis) 28 Jan. (Mag.) 42 We swept straight up to the VIP lounge, breathless with a mix of cheek-reddening embarrassment and butterfly-tummy excitement.
butterfly valve n. †(a) a pair of flap valves consisting of a single piece of flexible material (typically leather) fastened down in the middle to form a hinge (obsolete); (b) a valve that is opened and closed by the rotation of a rigid disc having a spindle running through its centre.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > pump > [noun] > valves
clap1626
clack1634
clapper1769
butterfly valve1809
suction valve1831
clack-valve1850
shoe-valve1858
butterfly clack1859
trap-valve1877
1809 W. Nicholson Brit. Encycl. III. at Hydraulics The butterfly-valve..varies from the two former, in having two semicircular flaps appended by hinges to a bar passing over the centre of the excavated piston.
1889 W. J. Baldwin Hot-water Heating & Fitting xxv. 328 Nothing but a gate valve should be tolerated in the main pipes of an apparatus unless it is a butterfly valve of good design.
1911 A. M. Greene Pumping Machinery vi. 289 A double clack valve..is sometimes called a butterfly valve.
2003 New Yorker 1 Sept. 98/1 ‘They're called butterfly valves’, he said of the sluices inside the cylinder.
b. In the names of animals and plants.
butterfly blenny n. a small blenny (fish) of the north-east Atlantic, Blennius ocellaris (family Blenniidae), having a long dorsal fin, the tall anterior part of which is marked with a prominent eyespot.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Blennioidei > family Blenniidae > member of genus Blennius (blenny) > blennius ocellarius (butterfly-blenny)
butterflyfish1686
butterfly blenny1838
1838 J. Wilson Introd. Nat. Hist. Fishes 192/2 Of these we may mention the butterfly blenny (B[lennius] ocellaris), distinguished by having the dorsal bi-lobed, the anterior lobe being very elevated, and marked with a round black spot.
1959 A. Hardy Fish & Fisheries x. 213 The beautiful little butterfly blenny..which is not uncommon to the south west.
2006 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 19 Mar. (Sport section) 74 A mighty 1oz 4dr butterfly blenny, the proud trophy of Cliff Williams, who will surely never forget that momentous day off Weymouth.
butterfly bush n. any of various buddleias (genus Buddleja), esp. B. davidii, widely cultivated as garden plants for their panicles of sweet-smelling white, purple, or pink flowers that are attractive to butterflies.
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1895 E. B. Walling Phebe 1 The big butterfly-bush that overhangs the brook.
1937 Washington Post 18 Apr. x9/7 Among the best of summer blooming shrubs for borders..are the kinds of Buddleia, or butterfly bush.
2013 New Yorker 14 Oct. 52/2 If you cut a butterfly bush down to nothing it grows back the next year twice as high.
butterflyfish n. †(a) the butterfly blenny, Blennius ocellaris (obsolete); (b) New Zealand a large deep-water tuna, Gasterochisma melampus, with fan-like pelvic fins; (c) a small African freshwater fish, Pantodon buchholzi (family Pantodontidae), with large pectoral fins used in leaping out of the water; (d) any of numerous brightly coloured or boldly marked reef fishes of the family Chaetodontidae, esp. the genus Chaetodon, popular in marine aquaria.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Blennioidei > family Blenniidae > member of genus Blennius (blenny) > blennius ocellarius (butterfly-blenny)
butterflyfish1686
butterfly blenny1838
1686 F. Willughby & J. Ray De Hist. Piscium iv. xix. 131 Blennus Salviani, an fortasse etiam Bellonii..The Butterfly-fish.
1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling ii. vi. 187 The Butterfly-Fish is often exposed to sale at Venice among other small Fish.
1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 74 Butterfly-fish... New Zealand sea-fish, Gasterochisma melampus... The ventral fins are exceedingly broad and long.
1931 E. G. Boulenger Fishes vii. 78 A strange member of this Order is the Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi ) of the brooks of West Africa.
1957 A. W. Parrott Sea Angler's Fishes N.Z. 156 The Butterfly Fish is also known as the Scaled Tunny, and is closely related to the Bonito and Albacore.
1975 T. Brooke-Taylor et al. Goodies' Bk. Criminal Rec. 35/2 The delicate Four-Eyed Butterfly Fish, so popular with fanciers in Crawley.
1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes xvi. 288/1 Other osteoglossomorphs include the African freshwater butterflyfish Pantodon (Pantodontidae).
2010 Trop. Fish Feb. 26/1 The threadfin is readily available and is one of the more popular butterflyfish.
butterfly flower n. [in sense (a) probably after post-classical Latin Papilionaceae (plural): see papilionaceous adj.] (a) a papilionaceous flower; a plant producing such a flower; cf. papilionaceous adj. 2; (b) any of various plants of the genus Schizanthus (family Solanaceae), which are widely cultivated as garden plants for their bright, multicoloured flowers; (also) a flower of such a plant; cf. poor man's orchid n. at poor man n. Compounds 2a; (c) any of various plants having flowers which are attractive to butterflies or pollinated by butterflies; a flower of such a plant.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > non-British flowers > of south or tropical America
marvel of Peru1597
flower of the night1665
world's wonder1706
butterfly flower1731
mirabilis1754
four o'clock flower1756
bastard mustard1759
Browallia1782
bastard plantain1796
cleome1806
alonsoa1812
gloxinia1816
schizanthus1823
butterfly plant1825
petunia1825
sinningia1826
salpiglossis1827
mask flower1834
poinsettia1836
guaco1844
spiderwort1846
mist flower1848
balisier1858
spider flower1861
sun plant1862
eucharis1866
pretty-by-night1869
Rocky Mountain bee plant1870
urn-flower1891
tulip-poppy1909
smithiantha1917
poor man's orchid1922
ten o'clock1953
tiger-iris-
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Commelina A flower, which consists of two Leaves, which are plac'd in the Form of two Wings, much after the manner of the Butterfly Flowers.
1853 Gardeners' Chron. 5 Feb. 84/3 For extreme gaiety, what can equal a well-grown specimen of Schizanthus! The plants..are..densely covered with little butterfly flowers.
1879 J. S. Hibberd Familiar Garden Flowers 1st Ser. Synopsis p. ix The 'papilionaceous' or butterfly flowers represent an enormous natural order.
1881 F. Darwin in Nature 10 Feb. 334/1 It seems impossible to believe that a butterfly-flower could be developed under such circumstances.
1903 Amer. Naturalist 37 476 Other red butterfly flowers are species of Silene, Lychnis and Primula.
1929 Amer. Midland Naturalist 11 417 Schizanthus retusus Hook. Butterfly flower.
1956 L. S. Wolfe Agric. Unadorned 19 A legume is a plant that bears pods like the pea or bean and produces a characteristic butterfly flower.
2000 P. Schappert World for Butterflies iv. 192 ‘Butterfly flowers’ have relatively deep corollas that suit the length of an uncoiled proboscis.
2007 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 28 July (Gardening section) 1 Schizanthus, otherwise known as poor man's orchid or the butterfly flower,..is a new discovery for me.
butterfly lily n. (a) a mariposa lily (genus Calochortus); = butterfly tulip n.; (b) a ginger lily (genus Hedychium, family Zingiberaceae); esp. H. coronarium.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > mariposa lily
butterfly tulip1860
star tulip1860
wild tulip1861
mariposa lily1868
butterfly lily1880
satin bells1897
1880 V. Rattan Pop. Calif. Flora (ed. 2) 118 C[alochortus] uniflorus,..Stem very short, bulbiferous... Mariposa. Butterfly Lily.
1885 Gardener's Mag. 28 608/1 The most beautiful flower I have seen in Jamaica is the wild ginger... The natives call it the ‘butterfly lily’, for the upper petals are in shape something like the expanded wings of a large white butterfly.
1902 V. K. Chesnut Plants used by Indians Calif. 323 Calochortus venustus..the commonest species of the Mariposa or butterfly lilies.
1970 Daily Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi) 3 Aug. 15/3 The Butterfly Lily (Hedychium)..can tolerate wet soil.
2014 J. L. Lowry Calif. Foraging 77/2 You can serve unusual vegetables to your guests while amazing the neighbors with the beauty of your butterfly lilies.
butterfly lobster n. any decapod crustacean of the family Scyllaridae, with a broad, flattened body; spec. the small Ibacus peronii, found in coastal waters of Australia.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > miscellaneous types of
butterfly lobster1880
nipper1882
cup-shrimp1911
1880 L. A. Meredith Tasmanian Friends & Foes 248 ‘Butterfly lobsters’..the shell of the head and body..expands into something like wing-forms.
1966 Austral. Fisheries Newsletter May 25 The zoological tribe Scyllaridea comprises two families, the Palinuridae, commonly known as marine crayfish or spiny lobsters and the Scyllaridae, or butterfly lobsters.
2007 W. R. Webber & J. D. Booth in K. L. Lavalli & E. Spanier Biol. & Fisheries Slipper Lobster ii. 26 The scyllarid lobsters have attracted an interesting variety of common names... These names include slipper lobsters, shovel-nosed lobsters, squat lobsters, butterfly lobsters.
butterfly orchid n. any of various orchids, esp. of the genera Psychopsis and Platanthera, having flowers thought to resemble a butterfly in shape; also with distinguishing word.Cf. butterfly orchis n., butterfly plant n.
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1851 Gardeners' Chron. 6 Sept. 564/2 Oncidium Papilio, the butterfly Orchid, from Trinidad, flowers in succession nearly all the year round.
1935 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 19 Mar. b18/2 (caption) A rare butterfly orchid which will be on display at the California Spring Garden Show.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 441/2 Greater butterfly-orchid, Platanthera chloranthera [sic] and lesser butterfly-orchid, P. bifolia , are white-flowered species whose blooms are strongly fragrant at night.
2002 P. Benshoff Myakka vii. 145 These large trees are covered with butterfly orchids.
butterfly orchis n. now rare a butterfly orchid; esp. Platanthera bifolia or P. chlorantha.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids
satyrionOE
bollockwort?a1300
sanicle14..
bollock?a1425
martagon1548
orchis1559
dogstones1562
hare's-ballocks1562
stone1562
bollock grass1578
dog's cods1578
dog's cullions1578
double-leaf1578
fly-orchis1578
goat's cullions1578
goat's orchis1578
priest's pintle1578
twayblade1578
bee-orchis1597
bifoil1597
bird's nest1597
bird's orchis1597
butterfly orchis1597
fenny-stones1597
gelded satyrion1597
gnat satyrion1597
humble-bee orchis1597
lady's slipper1597
sweet ballocks1597
two-blade1605
cullions1611
bee-flower1626
fly-flower1640
man orchis1670
musk orchis1670
moccasin flower1680
gnat-flower1688
faham tea1728
Ophrys1754
green man orchis1762
Arethusa1764
honey flower1771
cypripedium1775
rattlesnake plantain1778
Venus's slipper1785
Adam and Eve1789
lizard orchis179.
epidendrum1791
Pogonia?1801
Vanda1801
cymbidium1815
Oncidium1822
putty-root1822
Noah's Ark1826
yellow moccasin1826
gongora1827
cattleya1828
green man1828
nervine1828
stanhopea1829
dove-flower1831
catasetum1836
Odontoglossum1836
Miltonia1837
letter plant1838
spread eagle1838
letter-leaf1839
swan-plant1841
orchid1843
disa1844
masdevallia1845
Phalaenopsis1846
faham1850
Indian crocus1850
moccasin plant1850
pleione1851
dove orchis1852
nerve root1854
Holy Ghost flower1862
basket-plant1865
lizard's tongue1866
mousetail1866
Sobralia1866
swan-neck1866
swanwort1866
Indian shoe1876
odontoglot1879
wreathewort1879
moth orchid1880
rattlesnake orchid1881
dendrobe1882
dove-plant1882
Madeira orchis1882
man orchis1882
swan-flower1884
slipper-orchid1885
slipper orchis1889
mayflower1894
scorpion orchid1897
moederkappie1910
dove orchid1918
monkey orchid1925
man orchid1927
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids > helleborine or lady's tresses
lady's traces1548
orchis1578
sweet orchis1578
butterfly orchis1597
triple Lady's traces1611
goodyera1813
lady's tresses1820
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 165 Ornithophora Candida. Butter-flie Orchis.
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole xxii. 192 (heading) Orchis Hermaphroditica candida, the white Butterflie Orchis.
1757 Philos. Trans. 1756 (Royal Soc.) 49 850 The lesser Butterfly Orchis. Sparingly in some inclosures near Buddon Wood.
1851 Chambers' Edinb. Jrnl. 12 July 16/2 I never see the butterfly orchis without being reminded by it of some tall fair girl, whose growth has overshot her strength.
1996 Garden Design Feb. 93 There is a first lighting up of wild roses on the wood-edge, pink and white, and of purple orchis and butterfly-orchis.
butterfly pea n. any of several tropical leguminous plants of the genera Clitoria and Centrosema, esp. Clitoria ternatea, which are native to the Americas and Asia and have papilionaceous flowers; cf. pea-flower n. 2.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pea flowers > violet and allied flowers > allied flowers
pansyc1450
heartsease1530
pansy flower1530
three (also two) faces under (or in) a (or one) hood1548
bulbous violet1578
love-in-idleness1578
sweet violet1578
pensea1592
cull-me-to-you1597
dog's tooth violet1597
dog violet1597
kiss-me-ere-I-rise1597
live in idleness1597
wild violet1597
yellow violet1597
love-and-idle1630
love-in-idle1664
trinity1699
fancy1712
wood violet1713
marsh violet1753
tree violet1753
kiss-me-at-the-gate1787
bird's-foot violet1802
Parma violet1812
Johnny-jump-up1827
stepmother1828
Neapolitan violet1830
garden gate1842
butterfly pea1848
kissa1852
pinkany-John1854
viola1871
kiss-me1877
pink-eyed John1877
face and hood1886
roosterhead1894
trout-lily1909
1848 A. Gray Man. Bot. Northern U.S. 106 Clitoria..Butterfly Pea. Calyx tubular, 5-toothed... Centrosema..Spurred Butterfly Pea. Calyx short, 5-cleft.
1888 Bot. Gaz. 13 269 Along the roadsides..were great quantities of the showy flowers of the Butterfly peas, Clitoria Mariana and Centrosema Virginiana.
1977 Country Life 6 Jan. 15/3 No greenhouse is complete without a climber, and one to try this year is the butterfly pea, Clitoria ternatea.
2013 Business Times (Singapore) 14 Sept. An accompanying side of fragrant, slightly sweet rice tinged blue with butterfly pea flowers.
butterfly plant n. (a) a butterfly orchid (now rare); (b) any of various plants of the genus Schizanthus (family Solanaceae), which are widely cultivated for their bright, multicoloured flowers; cf. butterfly flower n. (b); (c) any of various plants having flowers which are attractive to butterflies or pollinated by butterflies.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > non-British flowers > of south or tropical America
marvel of Peru1597
flower of the night1665
world's wonder1706
butterfly flower1731
mirabilis1754
four o'clock flower1756
bastard mustard1759
Browallia1782
bastard plantain1796
cleome1806
alonsoa1812
gloxinia1816
schizanthus1823
butterfly plant1825
petunia1825
sinningia1826
salpiglossis1827
mask flower1834
poinsettia1836
guaco1844
spiderwort1846
mist flower1848
balisier1858
spider flower1861
sun plant1862
eucharis1866
pretty-by-night1869
Rocky Mountain bee plant1870
urn-flower1891
tulip-poppy1909
smithiantha1917
poor man's orchid1922
ten o'clock1953
tiger-iris-
1825 J. Lindley in Bot. Reg. 11 910 The Butterfly-plant of Santa Cruz, described by West.
1882 Garden 11 Feb. 91/2 Butterfly plants (Schizanthus) are a charming class of annuals.
1891 Cornhill Mag. Aug. 171 The butterfly-plants of the butterfly-zone are all strictly adapted to butterfly tastes and butterfly fancies.
1909 Strand Mag. Aug. 116/2 The butterfly plant (Oncidium papilio), one of the weirdest and most extraordinary of orchid flowers known.
1961 Harvey (Illinois) Tribune 18 July 10/1 A bower overflowing with hanging baskets containing Schizanthus, the butterfly plant.
1985 Spectator 28 Sept. 7/3 Small tortoiseshells and speckled woods flutter over the ‘butterfly plants’, buddleia and sedum.
2004 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 13 June iv. 2/1 There's an advantage to having some thistle but parsley and bronze fennel are better. They're all butterfly plants that offer nectar and chewy leaves.
butterfly ray n. any of the short-tailed rays of the genus Gymnura and family Gymnuridae, of warm seas, having very broad and flat pectoral fins.It is uncertain what fish is denoted in quot. 1865.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > member of family Dasyatidae (sting-ray) > gymnura tentaculata (butterfly ray)
butterfly ray1865
1865 A. G. L'Estrange Yachting W. of Eng. xi. 287 Here [sc. off Cornwall] was also the butterfly ray; the rare blenny with its long dorsal fin; [etc.].
1877 H. C. Dorner Guide N.Y. Aquarium 58 The Butterfly Ray. (Pteroplatea maclura). Above, the color is greenish blue, with pale spots, below, it is pale red.
1931 J. R. Norman Hist. Fishes xvi. 325 The Butterfly Rays (Pteroplatea).
2016 P. R. Last et al. Rays of World xxiv. 520 Gymnura tentaculata... Diet probably based on teleosts, like other butterfly rays.
butterfly shell n. the shell of various marine molluscs, esp. (formerly) of gastropods of the genus Voluta, and (in later use) of bivalve clams of the genus Donax; (also) the mollusc itself.
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1831 N. Webster Dict. Eng. Lang. I. Butterfly-shell, n. A genus of Testaceous Molluscas, with a spiral unilocular shell; called voluta.
1939 Astounding Sci. Fiction Nov. 105/2 The small yellow clam locally called a butterfly-shell seems to be a favorite victim.
2013 Guardian (Nexis) 9 Mar. (Review section) 20 She was walking along the shoreline under a pale sun gathering butterfly shells.
butterfly snail n. any of the pelagic gastropod molluscs of the group Pteropoda, which have wing-like flaps that are used in swimming; a sea butterfly.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > class Pteropoda > member of
sea-wing1681
pteropod1833
wing-shell1835
butterfly snail1876
pteropodan1890
sea butterfly1909
1876 E. R. Lankester tr. E. Haeckel Hist. Creation II. xix. 162 The Stump-headed Snails (Perocephala) are very closely allied..to the Cuttle-fish (through the Butterfly-snails).
1929 H. G. Wells et al. Sci. of Life II. vi. i. 556/2 A whalebone whale swims its devouring way through swarms of little crustacea or butterfly-snails, taking ten thousand at a gulp.
2008 T. Soper Wildlife of North Atlantic 14 The butterfly snail is a shell-less ‘naked pteropod’ which may grow to as much as 36mm in length.
butterfly tulip n. a mariposa lily (genus Calochortus); cf. butterfly lily n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > mariposa lily
butterfly tulip1860
star tulip1860
wild tulip1861
mariposa lily1868
butterfly lily1880
satin bells1897
1860 Hutching's Calif. Mag. May 486/2 The beautiful Butterfly Tulip, or Calochortus venustus.
1937 Times 26 Apr. 17/3 They carried sheaves of pale pink roses, delphiniums, and butterfly-tulips.
2001 People (Nexis) 4 Mar. (Features section) 38 The butterfly tulip (Calochortus amabilis) is a brilliant yellow flower with a deep purple spot on each petal.
butterfly weed n. chiefly U.S. any of several North American flowering plants, spec. the orange milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, which has clusters of sweetly-scented orange or yellow flowers that are attractive to butterflies.Also called pleurisy root.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > pleurisy-root
pleurisy root1764
butterfly weed1798
1798 B. S. Barton Coll. Ess. towards Materia Medica U.S. 48 It [sc. Asclepias decumbens] is called Butterfly-weed, &c. because its flowers are often visited by the butterflies.
1830 J. Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 213 Butterfly weed is a popular remedy in the United States for a variety of disorders.
1969 D. F. Costello Prairie World (1975) ii. 24 The flaming orange umbels of butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa ), blooming late in the year, add to the magic of the autumn flora.
2015 Bedford (Pa.) Gaz. 30 June 12 Butterfly weed likes full sun, so it's no wonder it does well along the highways and byways of North America from the Rockies eastward.
Derivatives
ˈbutterflydom n. the state or condition of being a butterfly (in various senses); the world of butterflies.
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1863 All Year Round 7 Mar. 39/2 His transition condition, before he develops into the full-grown butterflydom of the box, is lifted several hundred feet above his ordinary social altitude.
1882 H. C. Merivale Faucit of Balliol II. ii. vii. 240 The world in all its aspects bore the pleasant face of butterflydom.
1911 Suburban Life Aug. 84/2 When several choice bits of butterflydom had eluded my grasp, behold the masculine element enters and demands—‘Give me that net.’
2009 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 11 Dec. c37 ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, about a larva munching its way to butterflydom.
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1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter I. xiii. 277 Having cast his skin and burst from the chrysalism of a commander on half-pay into the splendid butterflyism of a barony.
1866 S. G. Osborne Lett. on Educ. 25 That great amount of butterflyism of which we see so much in after-life.
1910 J. J. Holm Holm's Race Assimilation xv. 343 The age of frivolousness and butterflyism among them is fast passing away.
ˈbutterfly-like adj. and adv. (a) adj. resembling a butterfly or resembling that of a butterfly; (b) adv. in the manner of a butterfly.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Rhopalocera (butterflies) > [adjective] > of or relating to butterflies > resembling or allied to
butterfly-like1706
papilious1733
1706 G. London & H. Wise Retir'd Gard'ner II. vi. ix. 736 At the end of the Branches appears a Butterfly-like Flower.
1753 J. Lockman Proper Answer to Vile Libel 6 He, Butterfly-like,..was perpetually whisking from his Desk; whispering to, and tampering with the several Tradesmen.
1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz in La Saisiaz: Two Poets of Croisic 53 The bard born to bask Butterfly-like in shine which kings and queens And baby-dauphins shed.
1947 R. T. Peterson Field Guide Birds East of Rockies (ed. 2) 208 The Redstart is one of the most butterfly-like of birds.
1984 R. M. Pyle Audubon Soc. Handbk. for Butterfly Watchers xvii. 205 While butterflies hold their wings vertically over their backs, and most moths fold them roof-like, geometrids hold them butterfly-like.
2005 Weekly World News May 31/3 The slightly chewed-up creature..is described as female and six inches tall, with pointy ears and butterfly-like wings.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
butterflyv.
/ˈbʌtəflʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈbədərˌflaɪ/ 1. † b. intransitive. To avoid an exclusive commitment to one romantic partner; to dally, to flirt. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To flutter or flit like a butterfly. Frequently with about, around, etc.
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society > leisure > social event > [verb (intransitive)] > participate in social events
show1631
racket1650
to go into society1788
to get around1798
socialize1841
butterfly1855
circulate1856
1855 Vermont Chron. 7 Aug. 126/6 Ye animated bundles of ribbons and flounces, who are butterflying around the dry goods stores.
1875 W. D. Howells Foregone Concl. viii. 96 Gaming, sonneteering, and butterflying about generally.
1880 Time 2 448 Who are those young gentlemen at that side seat, who butterfly round that smiling lily?
1922 A. S. M. Hutchinson This Freedom iii. v. 207 A wife..that butterflied the day long between idleness and pleasure.
1949 E. Bowen Heat of Day vii. 122 The spotlight butterflied over the letters.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 20 July 6 I wake up at 4am with tasks butterflying around my head.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > flirtation or coquetry > flirt, philander, or dally [verb (intransitive)]
flicker?c1225
dallyc1440
mird?c1625
pickeer1646
to dally away1685
niggle1696
coquet1700
gallant1744
philander1778
flirt1781
fike1804
gallivant1823
butterfly1893
vamp1904
romance1907
to fool up1933
floss1938
cop1940
horse1953
1893 Chambers's Jrnl. 12 Aug. 504/2 The young graduate was only butterflying after all.
1906 B. von Hutten What became of Pam iii. ix. 284 ‘What about Wantage?’..‘He is still butterflying.’
2. transitive. To split (a piece of meat or fish) almost in two and spread it out flat. Cf. butterfly n. Compounds 1a(d).
ΚΠ
1952 Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times 10 July 14/1 This cut should be enough to ‘butterfly’ the shrimp which should be almost separated but not quite.
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 15 June e1 Have butcher bone the leg of lamb and butterfly it.
1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 19 May b12/2 Let the meat department butterfly the steak for you.
2001 Austral. Gourmet Traveller Aug. 90/3 With a sharp knife, butterfly fillet to enlarge surface area, then flatten gently.
2016 Choice Nov. 61/2 If you want to cook a whole chicken you'll need to butterfly it.
Derivatives
ˈbutterflied adj. (of a piece of meat or fish) split almost in half and opened flat.
ΚΠ
1954 Yuma (Arizona) Daily Sun 11 Mar. 3/1 Arrange the butterflied prawns in individual flat baking dishes.
1996 J. Lanchester Debt to Pleasure (1997) 205 Butterflied lamb, vegetable kebabs, brochettes, grilled sea-bass.
2015 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 7 Oct. 2 There is certainly plenty of variety in pork cuts—medallions and butterflied steaks, frenched racks, boned loins.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.eOE
v.1855