English Dictionary

butterfly

/ˈbʌtə(ɹ)flaɪ/

noun

A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.

The butterfly gracefully fluttered from flower to flower.

意味（1）

A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.

It is true. I am like a butterfly, and I shall only live a little while.

意味（2）

(medicine, attributive) A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.

butterfly tape; butterfly bandage; butterfly strips

意味（3）

(swimming) The butterfly stroke.

意味（4）

Any of several plane curves that look like a butterfly; see Butterfly curve (transcendental) and Butterfly curve (algebraic).

意味（5）

(in the plural) A sensation of excited anxiety felt in the stomach.

I get terrible butterflies before an exam.

意味（6）

(now rare) Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable.

He was affable; therefore he was frivolous. The women liked him; therefore he was a butterfly.

意味（7）

(finance) A combination of four options of the same type at three strike prices giving limited profit and limited risk.

意味（8）

(alternate history) A random change in an aspect of the timeline seemingly unrelated to the primary point of divergence, resulting from the butterfly effect.

One potential butterfly could be JFK having another son the year after the POD instead of a daughter.

意味（9）

(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.