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forewing

forewing

1 7.7
A front wing on insects with four wings
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔrˌwɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ala delantera
  • Shortly after sunset, males emerge from the soil litter, climb up into the sagebrush, and start rubbing their leathery forewings together in song.
  • forewings that differ

Examples

  • The butterfly flapped its forewings gracefully as it took flight from the flower.

  • Hegge spread its forewings wide, making it appear like an angel from old Earth legends.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • PHOTO: Forewings that differ in length by just a fraction of a millimeter may keep a male scorpion fly from finding a mate.

    Academic text (1993)
  • My measurements showed, for example, that a scorpion fly's right and left forewings sometimes differed significantly in length.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Hegge carried its two forewings neatly draped along the back of its narrow, cylindrical body.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Her Eponan friend darted away, its long, narrow forewings arcing casually in a leisurely manner.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • This insect has dark-brown flecks and ribbons of brown on its wings, and several white splotches on its small upper wings, called forewings.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The researcher measured the length of the forewings to determine the species of the insect.

  • In many insects, the forewings serve as protective covers for the more delicate hind wings.

Synonyms

fore wing
vsforewing
  • Specialized
7.8

One of the front pair of thin parts an insect uses to fly when it has four wings

is written as one word rather than two separate words
fore-wing
vsforewing
  • Specialized
8.2

The front wing on an insect with four wings, like a butterfly or beetle

is written as one word rather than with a hyphen

Surface Forms

forewing singular
forewings plural

Morphology

forewing = wing (transparent) = fore + wing

The prefix 'fore-' meaning 'front' combines directly with 'wing' to denote the front pair of wings, a straightforward semantic composition.

Etymology

Forewing breaks into fore- meaning 'front', as in forehead, and wing, the part insects use to fly. So a forewing is the wing at the front of an insect's body.