Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A short-lived thing.
- noun Printed matter of passing interest.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An insect which lives but for a day or for a very short time; hence, any being whose existence is very brief.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) One of the ephemeral flies.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun something short lived or
transitory
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Now several things should be noted: he doesn't say all flies have four legs; he mentions a particular animal, the "ephemeron", which is most likely a species of mayfly, or
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It will be a far more memorable experience than anything the ephemeron of a steroid-fuelled 100 metre dash can offer.
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It will be a far more memorable experience than anything the ephemeron of a steroid-fuelled 100 metre dash can offer.
Archive 2008-03-23 2008
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The question, which we're all asking, is: is this a significant and long-term change or just an ephemeron?
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Attaching self-esteem so inextricably to this physical ephemeron is just all kinds of cringe-inducing from the long view, as one imagines hard-won confidence melting slowly away as rock hard abs give way to the dreaded "jelly belly" once again.
I Want to Wrap My Self-Esteem in a Package of Improbable Preservation! Rah Rah Rah! 2007
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Attaching self-esteem so inextricably to this physical ephemeron is just all kinds of cringe-inducing from the long view, as one imagines hard-won confidence melting slowly away as rock hard abs give way to the dreaded "jelly belly" once again.
I Want to Wrap My Self-Esteem in a Package of Improbable Preservation! Rah Rah Rah! 2007
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Hunt's image of Shelley as a stiffened ephemeron recalls the exquisite bodies tucked away in the ruins in the stanza I began by quoting.
Shelley's Pod People 2005
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Perhaps the perishing ephemeron enjoys a longer life than the tortoise.
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If then women are not a swarm of ephemeron triflers, why should they be kept in ignorance under the specious name of innocence?
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The insect lives and flies about until the evening, but as the sun goes down it pines away, and dies at sunset having lived just one day, from which circumstance it is called the ephemeron.
bilby commented on the word ephemeron
Who had a list of sub-atomic particles? Pterodactyl?
November 18, 2008
qms commented on the word ephemeron
The mayfly begins life at dawn,
By sundown the wee beast is gone,
And all it desires
Before it expires
Is love with a friendly ephemeron.
June 10, 2018