butterfly

a creature with six legs and large bright wings, often seen moving between flowers by day

The imago (final form) of such an insect, consisting usually of a long body with large flat wings, as opposed to earlier instars such as caterpillar or pupa.

[in the plural] Ellipsis of butterflies in one’s stomach (“A sensation of excited anxiety felt in the stomach”).

The butterfly stroke.

[before a noun] A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.

A type of stretch in which one sits on the ground with the legs folded into a shape like that of a butterfly's wings, slightly rocking them up and down, resembling the wings fluttering.

A person who changes partners frequently.

(Philippines, disapproving) party switcher; turncoat.

A combination of four options of the same type at three strike prices giving limited profit and limited risk.

A random change in an aspect of the timeline seemingly unrelated to the primary point of divergence, resulting from the butterfly effect.

Any of several plane curves that look like a butterfly; see Butterfly curve (transcendental) and Butterfly curve (algebraic).

A safety link or detaching hook above the cage attached to the winding rope to prevent the cage from being overwound.

(no longer used) Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable.

To cut (food) almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.

To cause events after the point of divergence to not happen as they did in real history, and people conceived after the point of divergence to not exist in recognizable form, due to the random variations introduced by the butterfly effect.

To cut strips of surgical tape or plasters into thin strips, and place across (a gaping wound) to close it.