butterfly

A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.

It is true. I am like a butterfly, and I shall only live a little while.

A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.

butterfly tape; butterfly bandage; butterfly strips

The butterfly stroke.

Any of several plane curves that look like a butterfly; see Butterfly curve (transcendental) and Butterfly curve (algebraic).

Ellipsis of butterflies in one’s stomach (“A sensation of excited anxiety felt in the stomach”).

I get terrible butterflies before an exam.

To cut (food) almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.

butterflied shrimp

Butterfly the chicken before you grill it.

To cut strips of surgical tape or plasters into thin strips, and place across (a gaping wound) to close it.

After everyone had obeyed his commands, the lieutenant motioned for two medics that now appeared to enter the room and attend to Dr. Carter. They bandaged him up, butterflying some of the deeper gashes and gave him a couple of shots.

To cause events after the point of divergence to not happen as they did in real history, and people conceived after the point of divergence to not exist in recognizable form, due to the random variations introduced by the butterfly effect.

Pearl Harbor not happening would've butterflied Taylor Swift.