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glowworm

[ gloh-wurm ]

/ ˈgloʊˌwɜrm /

See synonyms for glowworm on Thesaurus.com

noun

the wingless female or larva of the European beetle, Lampyris noctiluca, which emits a sustained greenish light.

any of various other beetle larvae or wingless females that emit a glow rather than a flash of light.

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Origin of glowworm

1300–50; Middle English. See glow, worm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for glowworm

There was nothing now in the world but himself and this glow-worm wandering across his hand.
Guy and Pauline|Compton Mackenzie
The frequency with which the Glow-worm was being laid up for repairs was beginning to get on our nerves.
The Campfire Girls Go Motoring|Hildegard G. Frey
He could not desire the star and find solace in the glow-worm—pursue Isolde and lag by the way with Moll Flanders.
Robert Orange|John Oliver Hobbes
In about a couple of days, my prisoner, but lately injured by the Glow-worm's treachery, is restored to his normal state.
The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles|Jean Henri Fabre

Did it go out like the glow-worm's lamp, the life and sweetness of the flower?
Afoot in England|W.H. Hudson

British Dictionary definitions for glowworm

glow-worm

noun

a European beetle, Lampyris noctiluca, the females and larvae of which bear luminescent organs producing a greenish light: family Lampyridae

any of various other beetles or larvae of the family Lampyridae

See also firefly (def. 1)

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

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