lightning bug
Americannoun
-
lightning bugs
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lightning bug
An Americanism dating back to 1770–80
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.
“The lightning bug is super cute …” — until that moment, I had thought it was a bee or butterfly — “ … but yeah, just getting more aligned with the trends in nursery.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
I half-expect him to leave a trail of argent, fading light in his wake, like a lightning bug.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 15, 2016
We know it as the firefly, or lightning bug, an insect that transforms the sultry summer evening into a veil laced with sequins.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 5, 2016
The gadfly wasn’t a gadfly - he was a lightning bug.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 22, 2016
I wished on a butterfly that landed on me, on a camel-shaped cloud, on a cricket in the house, and a lightning bug glowing on my ring finger.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
