firefly

/ˌfaɪərˈflaɪ/

/ˈfaɪəflaɪ/

Other forms: fireflies

Fireflies are flying beetles that glow in the dark. If you gently catch a firefly between your palms, you can watch its light flicker on and off for a while, and then let it go.

Depending on where you live, you may call fireflies "lightning bugs" or "glowworms." There are fewer of these light-emitting insects on the planet than there used to be, but you can still find places where they gather in groups at dusk, glowing and flickering like stars. Contrary to their name, fireflies aren't flies, but instead belong to a family of beetles with an amazing ability to produce a luminous light.

Definitions of firefly

1. noun

   tropical American click beetle having bright luminous spots
   synonyms: Pyrophorus noctiluca, fire beetle

   type of:

   elater, elaterid, elaterid beetle

   any of various widely distributed beetles
2. noun

   nocturnal beetle common in warm regions having luminescent abdominal organs
   synonyms: lightning bug

   types:

   glowworm

   the luminous larva or wingless grub-like female of a firefly

   type of:

   beetle

   insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings