damselfly
noun
dam·sel·fly
ˈdam-zəl-ˌflī 
: any of numerous odonate insects (suborder Zygoptera) distinguished from dragonflies by laterally projecting eyes and usually stalked wings folded above the body when at rest
Examples of damselfly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There were zug bugs, damselflies, jassid beetles, woolly buggers.
—
Maya Binyam, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
Orbiting, stalling, inverting The study team compiled hundreds of slow-motion videos capturing the behaviors of butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, dragonflies and damselflies, and found that the critters were not attracted to faraway lights.
—Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 7 Feb. 2024
There are 167 species of dragonflies and damselflies in Wisconsin, according to Jackson.
—Drew Dawson, Journal Sentinel, 7 Sep. 2023
That morning, near Marana, the group picked up rocks at the bottom of the river looking for insect larvae, swung nets to catch adult damselflies and learned how researchers measure population trends.
—The Arizona Republic, 21 July 2023
Dragonflies and damselflies are carnivorous and eat a lot of small insects.
—Jenny Krane, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 June 2023
This contradicts many scientific models that suggested global warming would doom predator-prey species such as the damselfly.
—Maureen MacKey, Fox News, 30 Apr. 2023
Bronzebacks might chase down a damselfly one minute, grab a cricket, or nail a skittering shiner the next.
—Gerald Almy, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
Wim Vooijs cleverly reduced a damselfly to a series of shimmering light circles to win the Butterflies & Dragonflies category.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 5 Feb. 2023
Maya Binyam, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
Orbiting, stalling, inverting The study team compiled hundreds of slow-motion videos capturing the behaviors of butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, dragonflies and damselflies, and found that the critters were not attracted to faraway lights.
—Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 7 Feb. 2024
There are 167 species of dragonflies and damselflies in Wisconsin, according to Jackson.
—Drew Dawson, Journal Sentinel, 7 Sep. 2023
That morning, near Marana, the group picked up rocks at the bottom of the river looking for insect larvae, swung nets to catch adult damselflies and learned how researchers measure population trends.
—The Arizona Republic, 21 July 2023
Dragonflies and damselflies are carnivorous and eat a lot of small insects.
—Jenny Krane, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 June 2023
This contradicts many scientific models that suggested global warming would doom predator-prey species such as the damselfly.
—Maureen MacKey, Fox News, 30 Apr. 2023
Bronzebacks might chase down a damselfly one minute, grab a cricket, or nail a skittering shiner the next.
—Gerald Almy, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
Wim Vooijs cleverly reduced a damselfly to a series of shimmering light circles to win the Butterflies & Dragonflies category.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 5 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'damselfly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near damselfly
Cite this Entry
“Damselfly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/damselfly. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share