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firefly

firefly

33 1.3
A small beetle that makes a soft light in its tail at night
  • noun
  • /ˈfaɪərˌflaɪ/
translation icon : luciérnaga
  • Could it be those fireflies, or whatever they are?
  • flashing fireflies
  • light from fireflies
  • fireflies at night

Part of me were neon, a gnarly glow attracting A firefly's haze of blinking tail lights.

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Examples

  • And in Japanese poetry, the firefly serves as a metaphor for silent yet passionate love.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The garden was alive with the glow of fireflies dancing in the twilight.

  • Then another and another, fireflies dancing through the air.

  • When the jar was full of fireflies, I let them go and started over.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • On long summer evenings throughout the United States, countless children chase fireflies through fields and backyards.

    Academic text (2003)
  • As light slips from the summer sky, an army of male fireflies awakens from its daytime slumber.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Jackals howled in the orange grove, and fireflies glittered between the leaves.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • In North America, the flashing fireflies fall into three main genera: Photinus, Photuris, and Pyractomena.

    Academic text (2003)
  • A heron squawks, a frog bewhomps, and fireflies light up beneath darkening sycamores.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • We caught a few fireflies and watched them light up our backyard.

Synonyms

lightning bug
vsfirefly
  • US
4 2.8

A small insect that makes a soft light at night

is the alternative common name for the same glowing beetle
glowworm
vsfirefly
3 6.7

A small insect that shines softly at night, often a wingless female firefly

is a small adult beetle that produces light, not just larvae or females
Lampyridae
vsfirefly
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A group of beetles called fireflies that make light at night

is the common everyday name for individual glowing beetles

How Bright

firefly
33 1.3
glowworm
3 6.7

Surface Forms

firefly singular
fireflies plural

Morphology

firefly = fire + fly (transparent) = fire + fly

The meaning is directly derived from the compound 'fire' + 'fly' and is readily inferable as an insect associated with a bright light.

Etymology

Firefly comes from putting fire and fly together. fire suggests 'light' and fly is the insect, so a firefly is a small bug that shines like a tiny flying light.