Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of numerous small, rounded, usually colorful beetles of the family Coccinellidae, often reddish with black spots and feeding primarily on other insects, including pests such as scale insects and aphids.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A ladybird: the more common name in the United States and in some parts of England.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Same as
ladybird .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun North America any beetle of the Coccinellidae family of
beetles , typically having a round shape and a colorful shell.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun small round bright-colored and spotted beetle that usually feeds on aphids and other insect pests
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"And there's the very useful little beetle we call the ladybug, which is not a bug, but a beetle.
Little Busybodies The Life of Crickets, Ants, Bees, Beetles, and Other Busybodies Julia Moody 1919
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A good clue to tracking down a ladybug is a sticky plant.
Lost Ladybug Project helps scientists understand insect's decline 2010
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The ladybug is a great help to men who own fruit orchards in the West.
Little Busybodies The Life of Crickets, Ants, Bees, Beetles, and Other Busybodies Julia Moody 1919
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English and American children call ladybug or lady-bird (that is, the bug or bird of our Lady), the Germans Marienkäferchen, and the
A Book of Operas Their Histories, Their Plots, and Their Music Henry Edward Krehbiel 1888
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The ladybug is the first game you'll create in the extensive tutorial.
IGN Complete 2010
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Okay, maybe they should be called ladybug eyes, but they are definitely huge and heart-melting.
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Okay, maybe they should be called ladybug eyes, but they are definitely huge and heart-melting.
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My quest for shelter for all kinds of wildlife also means there's a good excuse for friends to give simple, but very welcome home-made birthday gifts such as the pictured ladybird (aka ladybug) and bee haven my friends S & L gave me last week.
British Blogs 2009
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After all, the ladybug could be the room's former occupant suffering from an unfortunate metamorphosis a la Gregor, which would explain how I ended up in Kilgo, a circumstance my non-abroad, Central-bound peers like to repeat in mild disbelief and medium-to-spicy jealousy
The Chronicle 2009
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In this weird English language, greyhounds aren't always grey (or gray), a ladybug is a beetle, guinea pigs are neither pigs nor from Guinea, and a titmouse is neither mammal nor mammaried.
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