How to Use butterfly in a Sentence

butterfly

1 of 2 noun
Definition of butterflynext
  • They competed in the butterfly.
  • The butterfly rash is a facial rash that blooms across the cheeks and nose.
    — Sara Coughlin, Health, 17 May 2023
  • The singing style in the album matches the oriental charm of the moon and the butterfly.
    — Billboard China, Billboard, 6 Mar. 2023
  • In other words, don’t kill a butterfly or moth to send it in.
    — John Sharp | [email protected], al, 6 Aug. 2023
  • Instead, tend to your garden and the butterflies will come.
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Next, wrap the ribbon around the center of the wings for the body, punch a hole close to the center top of the wings, and attach the butterfly to the card using a brad.
    — Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 June 2023
  • Visitors will be able to feed the butterflies and learn about their role in the ecosystem.
    — The San Diego Union-Tribune Staff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2023
  • Hot glue the butterflies to cut branches and arrange them on the table.
    — Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Feb. 2024
  • The plaque is engraved with the star’s full name (Anne Celeste Heche), her birth and death years and an image of a butterfly.
    — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2023
  • It’s made of 18-karat gold and three mother-of-pearl hearts that’s shaped into butterfly wings.
    — Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Secure the small butterfly on top of the large butterfly.
    — New York Times, 27 July 2023
  • After the attack, Yam’s aunt got the same butterfly tattoo as her niece.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Note: Don’t go trapping and killing butterflies or moths.
    — Ike Morgan | [email protected], al, 1 Aug. 2023
  • One fact about Dua Lipa is that she *loves* butterflies.
    — Briannah Rivera, Seventeen, 12 July 2023
  • The two then do the butterfly breath technique together.
    — Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 15 Mar. 2024
  • When that chrysalis cracks open, there is the colorful, winged creature that delights us so much—the butterfly.
    — TIME, 27 Dec. 2023
  • Decorative cutouts of an elephant and a butterfly were on the wall.
    — Amy Qin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024
  • Smith wore a rainbow vest and jeans for the event, while Zada rocked a flower-print crop top and matching butterfly hair clips.
    — Charlotte Walsh, Peoplemag, 6 Sep. 2023
  • On one piece, butterflies frame a woman with long flowing hair.
    — Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Aug. 2023
  • The Valley of Butterflies is a serene park with streams, ponds, paved paths, and a stunning display of butterflies.
    — Sarah Souli, Travel + Leisure, 22 Jan. 2024
  • On the beach, Mimi’s fist held a taut white string, on the other end of which a cobalt blue butterfly with lemon yellow streamers fluttered in the sea breeze.
    — Caitlin Gunther, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Nov. 2023
  • Similar cases can be found in more than 70 species of moth and butterfly.
    — Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Always thinking of you Big Momma… and looking out for all the butterflies.
    — Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 25 Nov. 2023
  • A lot of people call her mariposa, which is ‘butterfly’ in Spanish.
    — Chloe Schama, Vogue, 1 Oct. 2023
  • The paintings—one red and one blue and titled Summer of Love and Love and Hate—detail the artist’s signature butterflies and transform the room.
    — Rachel Silva, ELLE Decor, 14 June 2023
  • One of those butterfly moments will come when the trio kicks off their tour at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 12.
    — Sian Watson, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2023
  • Steinfeld, 27, put on a show by throwing up her butterfly sleeves for the cameras.
    — Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024
  • But now the cocoon has hatched and the butterfly of the story, with a magical flick of its wings, has shaken off the webs of years of forgetfulness.
    — Ruth Margalit, The New York Review of Books, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Kelley has brown hair, blue eyes and a butterfly tattoo on her left forearm, the advisory said.
    — Antonio Planas, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
  • Caterpillars are cute and butterflies are beautiful, but nobody wants to hang out with a pupa.
    — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Mar. 2024
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butterfly

2 of 2 verb
  • Butterfly the chicken before roasting.
  • How to butterfly a steak Lay the flank steak flat on a cutting board.
    — The Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen, Good Housekeeping, 10 Apr. 2020
  • Butchers hand-cut and butterfly the ribeyes into the shape of a heart.
    — Chris Sims, The Indianapolis Star, 10 Feb. 2023
  • Slice pork tenderloin lengthwise to butterfly it, but don’t quite slice all the way through: The 2 pieces should remain attached.
    — Melissa Clark, charlotteobserver, 6 June 2017
  • Select a small tenderloin — about 1 pound — and use a sharp knife to butterfly it open to an even thickness that will cook in about 7 minutes.
    — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Apr. 2021
  • To butterfly a large chicken breast half, put it on a cutting board with the thickest portion facing your sharp knife.
    — Jeanmarie Brownson, chicagotribune.com, 11 Sep. 2019
  • From low-rise jeans to butterfly motifs to rimless shades, the early aughts have officially had a stylish comeback.
    — Rachel Besser, Vogue, 14 Dec. 2021
  • Learn how to handle raw chicken with this step-by-step guide to butterflying boneless, skinless, chicken breast.
    — Country Living, 21 Sep. 2010
  • When Jacobsen transformed the specimen from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly with a flick of her wrists, Charlotte hopped as if about to take flight herself.
    — René A. Guzman, San Antonio Express-News, 28 Mar. 2021
  • In another week or so, the pupa inside completes its metamorphosis to butterfly, emerging in search of food and a mate.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Country Living, 8 June 2020
  • Like her bestie and fellow vintage queen Bella Hadid, Devon is known for her ‘90s and y2k-inspired looks, from low-rise micro mini skirts to butterfly tops, and her latest knit look is no exception.
    — Nitya Rao, Seventeen, 21 July 2022
  • Despite its legendary sharp teeth, black piranha is a meaty fish that’s usually caught by hand line and prepared by carefully butterflying and roasting over a fire.
    — National Geographic, 20 May 2020
  • Spatchcocked chicken with fig glaze Serves 4 Also known as butterflying the bird, spatchcocking involves removing the chicken’s backbone with a pair of kitchen shears, and then flattening it before sliding it onto a hot grill.
    — sacbee, 13 June 2017
  • But Wise thinks butterflies are a better example of how nature deviates from our Western norms because of their many transformations, from caterpillar to a kind of goo inside a chrysalis to butterfly.
    — Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2023
  • Madeline Champagne, an amateur lepidopterist — someone who studies moths and butterflies — said monarchs have a short life cycle, going from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly in about four weeks.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 8 Sep. 2021
  • Other butterflies rely on a single host plant for survival as well, such as zebra swallowtail butterflies and paw paw trees, and spicebush swallowtail butterflies on spicebush shrubs.
    — Susan Brownstein, cleveland, 25 July 2023
  • His son Bryan Babcock took over in the early 1980s and remains at the helm like a mad scientist of sorts, exploring everything from new trellising systems and psychedelic-pink pet nats to butterfly sanctuaries and new oak tree habitats.
    — Matt Kettmann, SFChronicle.com, 23 June 2020
  • But the more famous kind of metamorphosis is more total—that quintessential transmogrification from a caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.
    — Sabrina Imbler, Harper's BAZAAR, 6 Dec. 2022
  • Civic science initiatives, also known as citizen science initiatives, assist with everything from water quality monitors to butterfly counts.
    — Lucy Bernholz, The Conversation, 4 Jan. 2022
  • The team set up spatial learning experiments in Heliconius butterflies over three different spatial scales, each representing ecologically-relevant behaviors.
    — Melissa Breyer, Treehugger, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Butterfly the chicken before roasting.
  • How to butterfly a steak Lay the flank steak flat on a cutting board.
    — The Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen, Good Housekeeping, 10 Apr. 2020
  • Butchers hand-cut and butterfly the ribeyes into the shape of a heart.
    — Chris Sims, The Indianapolis Star, 10 Feb. 2023
  • Slice pork tenderloin lengthwise to butterfly it, but don’t quite slice all the way through: The 2 pieces should remain attached.
    — Melissa Clark, charlotteobserver, 6 June 2017
  • Select a small tenderloin — about 1 pound — and use a sharp knife to butterfly it open to an even thickness that will cook in about 7 minutes.
    — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 2 Apr. 2021
  • To butterfly a large chicken breast half, put it on a cutting board with the thickest portion facing your sharp knife.
    — Jeanmarie Brownson, chicagotribune.com, 11 Sep. 2019
  • From low-rise jeans to butterfly motifs to rimless shades, the early aughts have officially had a stylish comeback.
    — Rachel Besser, Vogue, 14 Dec. 2021
  • Learn how to handle raw chicken with this step-by-step guide to butterflying boneless, skinless, chicken breast.
    — Country Living, 21 Sep. 2010
  • When Jacobsen transformed the specimen from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly with a flick of her wrists, Charlotte hopped as if about to take flight herself.
    — René A. Guzman, San Antonio Express-News, 28 Mar. 2021
  • In another week or so, the pupa inside completes its metamorphosis to butterfly, emerging in search of food and a mate.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Country Living, 8 June 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'butterfly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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