How to pronounce “butterfly”

Meaning

• [Noun]
• A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring. [from 11th c.]
• (medicine, attributive) A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.
• (swimming) The butterfly stroke. [from 20th c.]
• Any of several plane curves that look like a butterfly; see Butterfly curve (transcendental) and Butterfly curve (algebraic).
• (in the plural) Ellipsis of butterflies in one’s stomach (“A sensation of excited anxiety felt in the stomach”).
• (now rare) Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable. [from 17th c.]
• (finance) A combination of four options of the same type at three strike prices giving limited profit and limited risk.
• (alternate history) A random change in an aspect of the timeline seemingly unrelated to the primary point of divergence, resulting from the butterfly effect.
• (sports) A type of stretch in which one sits on the ground with the legs folded into a shape like that of a butterfly's wings, slightly rocking them up and down, resembling the wings fluttering.
• A person who changes partners frequently.
• (mining) A safety link or detaching hook above the cage attached to the winding rope to prevent the cage from being overwound.
• (Philippines, Philippine politics, often derogatory) party switcher; turncoat.
• [Verb]
• (transitive) To cut (food) almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.
• (transitive) To cut strips of surgical tape or plasters into thin strips, and place across (a gaping wound) to close it.
• (transitive, of the point of divergence of an alternate history scenario) 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.

Practice Nearby Words

butterfly stroke, moth, wing, honey, papillon, mariposa, tie, throttle, wheel, flag, skipper, mormon, monarch, farfalla, nymphalid, lepidopteran, swallowtail, flutterby, pierid, hairstreak, checkerspot, fritillary, admiral, sulphur, blue, copper, morpho, satyr, flutterer, winglet, lepidopteron, lepidopter, lepidopterist, moth butterfly, butterflyer, butterflier, macrolepidopteran, lime butterfly, eggfly, basketworm, lepidopterology, bagworm, plane, eulepidopteran, neolepidopteran, lepidoptery, nymph, slug moth, large chequered skipper, butterfly watching, leafwing, papilionid, virgin, dragonfly, bumblebee moth, luna moth, duskywing, lanternfly, caterpillar, pierine, brush-footed butterfly, lepidopterophobia, lepidopterologist, lepidotrich, gossamer-winged butterfly, swift moth, prominent, microlepidoptera, hawk moth, cup moth, white admiral, nymphid, firefly, lycaenid, peppered moth, bee moth, leopard, aeroplane, wall brown, luna, wood white, birdwing, day-moth, brown, flyer, flower moth, dipteran, nymphaline, pterophorid, lemoniid, microlepidopteran, beard, butterfly clip, graphic, night moth, flower fly, large tortoiseshell, micromoth, swift, delicate

Similar Sounds

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