banded purple
- noun
- US
- The banded purple is admired for its striking white band across dark wings.
Examples
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We spotted a banded purple resting on a maple leaf in the garden.
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The banded purple butterfly is often seen near streams.
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Many hikers enjoy watching banded purples fluttering along woodland trails in the summer.
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Look at that banded purple fluttering by!
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Many hikers enjoy watching banded purples fluttering along woodland trails in the summer.
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The banded purple butterfly is often seen near streams during warm weather.
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We spotted a banded purple resting on a maple leaf in the garden.
Synonyms
A dark butterfly with a wide white band on its wings that lives in North American woods
A North American butterfly with blue-black wings and a wide white band
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositional: 'banded' means marked with bands and 'purple' names the color, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to something purple with bands. In context (e.g. 'fluttering') they can reasonably infer it denotes a butterfly species, so the meaning is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Banded purple comes from how the butterfly looks: dark, slightly purple wings cut by a wide white band. So banded means 'having a band' and purple points to the wing color, which is why the name helps you picture the insect.