from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Any of various luminous female beetles or beetle larvae of the families Phengodidae and Lampyridae, especially the larva or wingless grublike female of a firefly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that gives out a green light from its abdomen.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. A coleopterous insect of the genus Lampyris; esp., the wingless females and larvæ of the two European species (L. noctiluca, and L. splendidula), which emit light from some of the abdominal segments.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The common English name of Lampyris noctiluca, a species of pentamerous beetles, of the family Lampyridæ and subfamily Lampyrinæ: a name applicable strictly only to the female, which is wingless, somewhat resembles a caterpillar, and emits a shining green light from the end of the abdomen. The male is winged and not phosphorescent, resembling an ordiuary beetle; he flies about in the evening, and is attracted by the light of the female. The same name is given to other species of Lampyris, as L. splendidula. Some related beetles are known in the United States as fireflies and lightning-bugs.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the luminous larva or wingless grub-like female of a firefly
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Your poetical pieces will do very well but the glowworm will remain at the top unless you can ever beat it.
Outside the walls, a human glowworm passed to and fro, this being the blur of pedestrian traffic.
Once something like a foot-long glowworm crawled out of the shallows to dance and writhe near his feet.
"They're just so roomy," an older dame decked out like a human glowworm declared, sneaking her head out to watch the new president's inaugural address.
Ginger, bleeding badly, tracked the gun right through the glowworm incandescence of the Eotech sight and brought the gun right to bear on what of Bob he could see or sense, even while rising to his feet.
To gaze upon the same planet in space, or at the same glowworm gleaming in the grass;
His enchanted forest is a field of hanging upside-down glowworm lights and Magritte umbrellas.
It is no brighter at this distance than the torch of the poor glowworm, and yet, my good youth, that light is more dear to Mary Stuart, than every star that twinkles in the blue vault of heaven.
Iz read much about the glowworm cave, and teh New Milford trek, nd ov course teh LotR showed so much heart-stopping beautiful scenery.
I watched until the mosquitoes wore me down, and then headed home, not using my flashlight, because I hoped to catch a glimpse of the glowworm which Irene and I had discovered a couple of summers back.