Definitions

lightning bug

NOUN

nocturnal luminescent beetle

Synonyms

WEAK

candle fly fire beetle firefly fireworm glowworm lampyrid lantern fly noctiluca

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I half-expect him to leave a trail of argent, fading light in his wake, like a lightning bug.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 15, 2016

We know it as the firefly, or lightning bug, an insect that transforms the sultry summer evening into a veil laced with sequins.

From Washington Post • Jul. 5, 2016

And people have been following that lightning bug all over America.”

From Washington Times • Jan. 22, 2016

Surprisingly, some of the singers also miss the mark, sometimes just by millimeters, but as Mark Twain observed, that's the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2015

Max was the tenderhearted one who got upset at so much as a caterpillar accidentally crushed underfoot, or a dead lightning bug caught in the grille of his family’s limousine.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix