ladybird

British

/ ˈleɪdɪˌbɜːd /

noun

Usual US and Canadian name: ladybug. any of various small brightly coloured beetles of the family Coccinellidae, such as Adalia bipunctata ( two-spotted ladybird ), which has red elytra marked with black spots

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of ladybird

C18: named after Our Lady, the Virgin Mary

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

ladybird

"The once-common small tortoiseshell butterfly is now rarely seen for example, and there are far fewer records of the two-spot ladybird," Winnall explained.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Some states, including Florida, Texas, Michigan, Vermont and West Virginia, also utilize deeds known as ladybird deeds or enhanced life-estate deeds, which automatically remove a home from probate and exempt it from Medicaid estate recovery.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 19, 2026

The nursery rhyme that goes “Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home, your house is on fire, your children are gone” cruelly repeated in my head.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025

It has set its sights on a bizarre-looking insect larva known as the mealybug ladybird, which sports a coat of white, waxy filaments that resembles fleece.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 15, 2024

‘When a ladybird is walking across a leaf, I is hearing her feet going clumpety-clumpety-clump like giants’ footsteps.’

From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023