butterflybut‧ter‧fly /ˈbʌtəflaɪ $ -ər-/ ●●○ noun (plural butterflies) [countable] 
a type of insect that has large wings, often with beautiful colours2have/get butterflies (in your stomach) informal to feel very nervous before doing something: 
I always get butterflies before an exam.3 the butterfly a way of swimming by lying on your front and moving your arms together over your head while your legs move up and down4someone who usually moves on quickly from one activity or person to the next: Gwen’s a real social butterfly.
WORD ORIGINbutterfly
Origin:
Old English buterfleoge, from butere ( ➔ BUTTER1) + fleoge ‘fly’; perhaps because many types of butterfly are yellow, or because people believed that butterflies steal milk and butterEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Gwen's a real social butterfly.
- A butterfly wing has a dynamically changing structure that allows myriad responses to its own induced wing vortices.
- At about the seventeenth day the first butterflies will probably start to emerge.
- For the patterned butterflies I used a small part of the leaf design.
- He collected rocks and butterflies and devoured accounts of recent scientific expeditions.
- I feel a kind of reverence in late summer when I visit that abandoned butterfly garden.
- I shut my eyes and tried to see the butterfly.
- The snails had vanished, but now some one seemingly had traced a picture of a butterfly in the dirt.
- These people can take many blows, but I, I am fragile as a butterfly.
Longman Language Activatorto be nervous
informal to feel nervous about doing something that you are going to do very soon because it is important and you want to do it well: · Some actors never have butterflies before going on stage.have butterflies in your stomach: · It was the morning of the World Cup Final and most of the players had butterflies in their stomachs.
if someone is a nervous wreck , they have been made so nervous that they have completely lost all their confidence and their ability to remain calm or think sensibly: · Before the plane took off she was a nervous wreck - she had to be strapped into her seat.· Even though I'd been practicing for months, by the day of the competition I was a nervous wreck.
informal to be so nervous that you are shaking and you find it impossible to behave calmly, especially for a long time: · Since she lost her job Rosie's been a bundle of nerves.· Harry was a bundle of nerves the whole time his wife was in the hospital.
WORD SETSabdomen, nounant, nounantenna, nounanthill, nounaphid, nounbedbug, nounbee, nounbeetle, nounblack widow, nounbloodsucker, nounblow-fly, nounbluebottle, nounboll weevil, nounbookworm, nounbug, nounbumblebee, nounbutterfly, nouncaterpillar, nouncell, nouncentipede, nounchrysalis, nouncicada, nouncobweb, nouncockchafer, nouncockroach, nouncocoon, nouncomb, nouncrane fly, nouncreepy-crawly, nouncricket, noundaddy longlegs, noundragonfly, noundrone, nounearwig, nounentomology, nounfeeler, nounfirefly, nounflea, nounfly, verbfly, nounfruit fly, noungadfly, nounglow-worm, noungnat, noungossamer, noungrasshopper, noungreenfly, noungrub, nounhoneybee, nounhoneycomb, nounhornet, nounhorsefly, nounhousefly, nouninsect, nouninsectivore, nounkatydid, nounladybird, nounlarva, nounlice, nounlightning bug, nounlocust, nounlouse, nounmaggot, nounmantis, nounmayfly, nounmidge, nounmillipede, nounmite, nounmosquito, nounmoth, nounnectar, nounnest, nounnit, nounnymph, nounpest, nounpod, nounpraying mantis, nounproboscis, nounpupa, nounqueen, nounroach, nounsand fly, nounscarab, nounsilkworm, nounsilverfish, nounspider, nounspin, verbstick insect, nounsting, verbsting, nounstinger, nounsucker, nounswarm, nounswarm, verbtarantula, nountermite, nounthorax, nountick, nountortoiseshell, nountrilobite, nountsetse fly, nountzetze fly, nounvein, nounverminous, adjectivewasp, nounwater bug, nounweb, nounweevil, nounwing, nounwinged, adjectivewoodlouse, nounwoodworm, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Gwen’s a real social butterfly.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
1 Gwen’s a real social butterfly.· A pure white butterfly tossed about in the light on the edge of the lake.· Place a sheet of fine netting a few inches above cabbages and brassicas to keep cabbage white butterflies away.· The white butterflies lay their eggs on plants of the cabbage family and also on the garden nasturtium in May to August.
NOUN· The young of the emperor butterfly fish that live on coral reefs seem to use this system too.· Would it cope with more sensitive species such as butterfly fish and anemones?· If this is your first marine tank, I would not consider sensitive butterfly fish, or coral invertebrates.
· The wings of the monarch butterfly, for example, contain powerful heart-stopping poisons called cardiac glycosides.· The caterpillars of the monarch butterfly, surprisingly, are able to feed on milkweed without taking any of these precautions.· Both the caterpillar and adult of the monarch butterfly are distasteful to their enemies.· For example, the pollen of modified crops had already been shown to be poisonous to monarch butterfly larvae.
a type of insect that has large wings, often with beautiful colours2have/get butterflies (in your stomach) informal to feel very nervous before doing something: I always get butterflies before an exam.3 the butterfly a way of swimming by lying on your front and moving your arms together over your head while your legs move up and down4someone who usually moves on quickly from one activity or person to the next: Gwen’s a real social butterfly.