lightning bug
4
2.8
- noun
- /ˈlaɪtnɪŋ bʌg/
- US
:
luciérnaga
- But in the evening, when the crickets sing and the lightning bugs flash like tiny stars, the rabbits come out.
- catch lightning bugs
- lightning bugs flash
- lightning bugs flicker
It buzzed in lightning bugs and the clouds moved on.
- It buzzed in lightning bugs and the clouds moved on.
Examples
-
After dinner, when it began to get dark, the four of us gathered to catch lightning bugs.
Fiction book (1995) -
As the sun set, the garden was filled with the glow of lightning bugs dancing in the air.
-
I went back into the room to get my jar of lightning bugs.
Fiction book (1993) -
Through the windows, I saw lightning bugs spark in the trees.
Fiction book (1990) -
On the way back to the pool, I saw lightning bugs flashing as they rose into the night.
Fiction book (2001) -
Twilight changed to dark; a few lightning bugs came out.
Fiction book (1994) -
I saw lightning bugs in the rosebushes when I ran past.
Fiction book (2001) -
I had at least twenty lightning bugs, and they made me a pretty lantern.
Fiction book (1990) -
Lightning bugs floated off among the trees, thousands of them, filling the woods like blinking stars.
Fiction book (1998) -
The long, lazy Georgia summer when twilight lasted for hours and lightning bugs signaled in the slow thickening darkness.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
33
1.3
A small beetle that makes a soft light in its tail at night
Surface Forms
Morphology
lightning + bug
The compound combines 'lightning' (a bright, flashing natural light) with 'bug' (an insect), so a learner who knows both words can plausibly infer it refers to an insect that produces light (i.e. a firefly). This is a straightforward descriptive composition and parallels cross-linguistic names for luminous insects, making the meaning readily derivable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Lightning bug comes from the tiny insect's bright flashes at night. People saw a little bug that flashed like lightning, so the name means 'firefly'.