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# butterfly

«butterfly» in Mova's school dictionary: **an insect with four large, often brightly coloured wings…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a butterfly, butterflies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A butterfly is an insect with four large, often brightly coloured wings that flies by day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#m1)

2) Butterflies in your stomach is a fluttery feeling when you are nervous. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#m2)

3) Butterfly (stroke) is a swimming stroke where both arms move over the water together. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#m3)

4) A social butterfly is a person who moves happily from friend to friend. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science, the butterfly life cycle is a famous example of complete metamorphosis: egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), adult butterfly. Butterflies drink nectar and help pollinate flowers. In feelings lessons, butterflies in your tummy are a normal sign of nerves. Phrases: butterflies in my stomach, butterfly stroke, social butterfly, butterfly net.

### examples

- A butterfly landed on the flower. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#x1)
- A caterpillar turns into a butterfly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#x2)
- Butterflies drink nectar from flowers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#x3)
- I had butterflies in my stomach before the play. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#x4)
- She swam the butterfly in the race. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#x5)
- The butterfly came out of its chrysalis. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#x6)
- Suppose I hunt butterflies, and you, serpents.” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/#x7)

### note

Plural butterflies (y changes to ies). Butterflies usually fly by day and fold wings up; moths usually fly at night and rest with wings flat. Butterflies have six legs, like all insects. Touching wings can rub off their tiny scales and harm them.

### In the corpora

- [Butterflies and flies taste with their feet, so a red admiral landing on a rotting plum is tasting it as it lands.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers/1/)
- [Butterflies have taste sensors on their feet and drink through a long tube called a proboscis that stays rolled up like a party blower.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers/6/)
- [Owl butterflies have large eye spots on the underside of their wings that may startle birds or draw their pecks away from the body.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/98-the-butterfly-house/10/)
- [The glasswing butterfly has clear patches on its wings with few scales, which makes it hard to see against leaves and flowers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/98-the-butterfly-house/12/)
- [A caterpillar turns into a butterfly inside a chrysalis, where its body breaks down and is rebuilt.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/219-butterflies-moths-and-ladybirds/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «butterfly» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butterfly/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.