click beetle

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noun

any of numerous beetles of the family Elateridae, having the ability to spring up with a clicking sound when placed on their backs.

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Also called skipjack, snapping beetle.

Origin of click beetle

First recorded in 1860–65

Words nearby click beetle

clichéd, Clichy, click, clickable, clickbait, click beetle, clicker, clickety-clack, click fraud, clickjacking, clicks-and-mortar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use click beetle in a sentence

So we picked out the song (“Rhiannon,” click here for video), and Deer Tick learned it.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A click sends a user to a statement, a list of passenger nationalities, emergency call-center numbers, and other information.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370|Lennox Samuels|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For a longer list of 200 outstanding releases, click here.
The Best Albums of 2014|Ted Gioia|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She was so great and it made everything click for me, because I was also interested in journalism.
Meghan Daum On Tackling The Unspeakable Parts Of Life|David Yaffe|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I hope that there is a trend away from the kind of “click-bait” type of essay that you often see on the Internet.
Meghan Daum On Tackling The Unspeakable Parts Of Life|David Yaffe|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her feet crush creeping things: there is a busy ant or blazoned beetle, with its back broken, writhing in the dust, unseen.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
But strangest of all the dishes at the Tagal's feast was one prepared from a kind of beetle.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
Edna could hear the whispering voices of dead men and the click of muffled gold.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
Black Hood shot twice, pulled the trigger a third time only to hear the hammer click on an empty chamber.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
Perhaps the Eye heard that click and understood its meaning, for it was then that he made his dash through the rear door.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

British Dictionary definitions for click beetle

click beetle

noun

any beetle of the family Elateridae, which have the ability to right themselves with a snapping movement when placed on their backsAlso called: snapping beetle, skipjack See also wireworm

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