Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various nocturnal beetles of the family Lampyridae, characteristically having bioluminescent organs in the tip of the abdomen that produce a flashing light.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An insect which has the faculty of becoming luminous; a lampyrid or elaterid beetle which emits phosphorescent light from organs in some part of the body.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any luminous winged insect, esp. luminous beetles of the family Lampyridæ.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A nocturnal, bioluminescent beetle of the family Lampyridae.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun nocturnal beetle common in warm regions having luminescent abdominal organs
  • noun tropical American click beetle having bright luminous spots

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

fire +‎ fly

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Examples

Comments

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  • Zoë: Sir... you paid money for this? On purpose?

    Mal: Ship like this, be with you till the day you die.

    Zoë: Because it's a death trap.

    December 18, 2007