click beetle


noun
  1. any of numerous beetles of the family Elateridae, having the ability to spring up with a clicking sound when placed on their backs.

Origin of click beetle

1
First recorded in 1860–65

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use click beetle in a sentence

  • In the books it is called a click-beetle, but it is also called a skip-jack because of the somersaults it can turn.

    Little Busybodies | Jeanette Augustus Marks and Julia Moody

British Dictionary definitions for click beetle

click beetle

noun
  1. any beetle of the family Elateridae, which have the ability to right themselves with a snapping movement when placed on their backs: Also called: snapping beetle, skipjack See also wireworm

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012