butterfly

Universal Words noun (plural butterflies) 1 [C] a flying insect with a long thin body and four large, usually brightly coloured, wings: butterflies and moths * She's like a butterfly. She flits in and out of people's lives. 2 [U] a swimming stroke in which you swim on your front and lift both arms forward at the same time while your legs move up and down together: She was third in the 200m butterfly (= a swimming race). IDIOMS have butterflies (in your stomach) (informal) to have a nervous feeling in your stomach before doing sth