Sekirov Dictionary

chrysalis

/ˈkɹɪsəlɪs/

noun 3
verb 2
forms 5

noun3

•
A butterfly pupa or the pupal stage of the butterfly lifestyle; (originally) any pupal stage of any insect wherein the pupa is largely inactive and takes no food.
- Caterpillars, chrysalisses soon reveal / The future gandy butterfly. — 1865
The bare hanging cocoon of butterfly pupae; (originally) any cocoon.
•
(figurative) Any limiting environment or situation escaped during one's growth or development in the manner of a butterfly.
- However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence. — 1897

verb2

•
To form a chrysalis or cocoon.
- One memorable day last January a caterpillar which had chrysalised happily in a ventilator came out in the office in full glory as a butterfly, under the impression it was summer. — 1925
•
To metamorphize, to undergo metamorphosis, to transform.
- He is in uniform, and for three years flutters on the parade, in the beer-gardens, in the gallery at the theatre, and then he chrysalises into the old paternal bauer suit and the patriarchal ideas. — 1879

forms

chrysalised · chrysalising · chrysalises · chrysalides · chrysalisses

This dictionary works without the internet: on your phone · in Chrome