\
Definition of butterfly
(Entry 1 of 2)
butterfly
verbDefinition of butterfly (Entry 2 of 2)
Examples of butterfly in a Sentence
Noun
They competed in the butterfly.Verb
Butterfly the chicken before roasting.Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Getty Images Grab your butterfly hair clips, tie dye tee, and tiny tinted sunglasses, because all of your early 2000s, Disney Channel wishes are finally coming true. — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Hilary Duff Seemingly Confirms that a 'Lizzie McGuire' Reboot Is Really Happening," 31 Dec. 2018 Imagine being chased through a Mad Max hellscape by immortal butterflies the size of elephants. — Jacqueline Detwiler, Popular Mechanics, "What Will Be the Last Fish?," 10 Dec. 2018 Kylie dressed up with eight-month-old Stormi as pretty pink butterflies. — Isabel Greenberg, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kylie Jenner Just Revealed the Halloween Costume She Wore While Pregnant," 2 Nov. 2018 Zinnias are favorite nectar sources for hummingbirds and butterflies. — Calvin Finch, San Antonio Express-News, "The plants that will attract fall hummingbirds, butterflies," 13 July 2018 Cheshire Cat: Champagne, orange bitters, butterfly pea extract, lemon juice. — Kellie Hwang, azcentral, "Alice in Wonderland-themed bar Hatter and Hare now open in Phoenix," 12 July 2018 Chynna Walsh won the 100-yard butterfly and placed second in the 100 backstroke. *** Mountain Lakes captured its third straight Public C championship with a 112-58 win over Haddonfield. — Mike Owens, Philly.com, "Saturday's S.J. roundup: Moorestown girls win state swimming title; Camden Catholic's Dominic Dunn reaches 1,000 career points," 24 Feb. 2018 Award for the most photographed guest, however, went to Buddy (the adorable dog of artist Philip-Lorca diCorcia) who, for the night, was more social butterfly than labradoodle. — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, "The David Zwirner Gallery Celebrates 25 Years With an Anniversary Bash," 15 Jan. 2018 Instead, the MacBook made headlines for hardware problems with its butterfly keyboards, which Apple eventually had to fix with a new protective membrane on its updated models. — Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge, "The Verge 2018 tech report card: Apple," 27 Dec. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Learn how to handle raw chicken with this step-by-step guide to butterflying boneless, skinless, chicken breast. — Country Living, "How To Butterfly Chicken Video," 21 Sep. 2010 Spatchcocked chicken with fig glaze Serves 4 Also known as butterflying the bird, spatchcocking involves removing the chicken’s backbone with a pair of kitchen shears, and then flattening it before sliding it onto a hot grill. — sacbee, "It’s prime time for grilling – try these recipes," 13 June 2017 Spatchcocked chicken with fig glaze Serves 4 Also known as butterflying the bird, spatchcocking involves removing the chicken’s backbone with a pair of kitchen shears, and then flattening it before sliding it onto a hot grill. — Sacbee, sacbee.com, "It’s prime time for grilling – try these recipes," 13 June 2017 Slice pork tenderloin lengthwise to butterfly it, but don’t quite slice all the way through: The 2 pieces should remain attached. — Melissa Clark, charlotteobserver, "Keep the tender in your pork tenderloin," 6 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'butterfly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Learn More about butterfly
Dictionary Entries near butterfly
Statistics for butterfly
Last Updated
16 Jan 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for butterfly
The first known use of butterfly was before the 12th century
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for butterfly
butterfly
noun
English Language Learners Definition of butterfly
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a kind of insect that has a long thin body and brightly colored wings and that flies mostly during the day
: a person who goes to many parties and other social events
: a way of swimming in which the swimmer's face is in the water and the arms move together in a circular motion while the legs kick up and down; also : a race in which the swimmers do the butterfly
butterfly
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of butterfly (Entry 2 of 2)
: to cut (food) into two pieces that are joined along one edge so that it can be spread apart for cooking
See the full definition for butterfly in the English Language Learners Dictionary
butterfly
noun
\
Kids Definition of butterfly
butterfly
noun
\
Medical Definition of butterfly
(Entry 1 of 2)
butterfly
adjectiveMedical Definition of butterfly (Entry 2 of 2)
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on butterfly
What made you want to look up butterfly? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Homophone Quiz
-
- In order to judge how people felt, the senator's office hired a firm to take a
______.
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
Homophone Quiz
More/moor than/then two/too/to.
Take the quiz -
Liar, Liar Quiz
Test your knowledge of words for lies, liars, and those being lied to. In other words, everyone.
Take the quiz -
Spell It
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
Take the quiz -
Syn City
Build a city of skyscrapers—one synonym at a time.
Play the game
Share butterfly
Resources for butterfly