firefly B1 Topic:Animals US /ˈfaɪ.ɚˌflaɪ/ UK /ˈfaɪ.əˌflaɪ/ See IPA manual Freq #21074 Meanings 1 noun a beetle of the family Lampyridae whose abdomen produces light, especially at twilight A firefly flashed above the grass as evening fell. 2 noun a tropical American click beetle with luminous spots on its body The tropical firefly glowed from two bright spots near its head. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a beetle of the family... lightning bugglow flylightning beetle 2 noun · a tropical american click... fire beetle Word family Forms fireflies Related forms glowwormbioluminescence Etymology A compound of fire + fly, named for the insect's visible glow. Despite fly in the name, the familiar firefly is a beetle; lightning bug and glow fly arose from the same striking feature. Topics Animals External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # firefly **Type:** Word **Level:** B1 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈfaɪ.ɚˌflaɪ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈfaɪ.əˌflaɪ/ **Frequency rank:** 21074 ## Meanings 1. a beetle of the family Lampyridae whose abdomen produces light, especially at twilight 2. a tropical American click beetle with luminous spots on its body ## Examples - A firefly flashed above the grass as evening fell. - The tropical firefly glowed from two bright spots near its head. ## Synonyms - lightning bug - glow fly - lightning beetle - fire beetle ## Related Forms - glowworm - bioluminescence ## Etymology A compound of fire + fly, named for the insect's visible glow. Despite fly in the name, the familiar firefly is a beetle; lightning bug and glow fly arose from the same striking feature. ## Topics - Animals markdown