glowworm

[ gloh-wurm ]
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noun
  1. the wingless female or larva of the European beetle, Lampyris noctiluca, which emits a sustained greenish light.

  2. any of various other beetle larvae or wingless females that emit a glow rather than a flash of light.

Origin of glowworm

1
1300–50; Middle English. See glow, worm

Words Nearby glowworm

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

How to use glowworm in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for glow-worm

glow-worm

noun
  1. a European beetle, Lampyris noctiluca, the females and larvae of which bear luminescent organs producing a greenish light: family Lampyridae

  2. any of various other beetles or larvae of the family Lampyridae

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