whirligig beetle

whirligig beetle
noun Date: 1855 any of a family (Gyrinidae) of beetles with two pairs of eyes and clubbed antennae that live mostly on the surface of water where they swim swiftly about in circles

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • whirligig beetle — n. any of a small family (Gyrinidae) of bluish black gregarious beetles found darting about in circles on the surface of ponds, streams, etc …   English World dictionary

  • Whirligig beetle — Taxobox name = Whirligig beetle image width = 200px image caption = Gyrinus natator regnum = Animalia phylum = Arthropoda classis = Insecta ordo = Coleoptera subordo = Adephaga familia = Gyrinidae familia authority = Latreille, 1802 subdivision… …   Wikipedia

  • whirligig beetle — any of numerous aquatic beetles of the family Gyrinidae, commonly seen in groups circling about rapidly on the surface of the water. [1850 55] * * * ▪ insect       any of about 700 species of beetles (insect order Coleoptera) that are widespread… …   Universalium

  • whirligig beetle — noun aquatic beetle that circles rapidly on the water surface • Hypernyms: ↑beetle • Member Holonyms: ↑Gyrinidae, ↑family Gyrinidae * * * noun : any of numerous beetles of the family Gyrinidae that have a firm oval usually dark body with a bronzy …   Useful english dictionary

  • whirligig beetle — n. aquatic beetle that circles quickly on the surface of calm freshwater in groups …   English contemporary dictionary

  • whirligig beetle — noun Any of various water beetles of the family Gyrinidae that swim rapidly in circles when alarmed …   Wiktionary

  • whirligig beetle — whirl′igig bee tle n. ent any of numerous aquatic beetles of the family Gyrinidae, commonly seen in groups circling about rapidly on the surface of water • Etymology: 1850–55 …   From formal English to slang

  • whirligig beetle — /wɜligɪg ˈbitl/ (say werleegig beetl) noun any of the aquatic beetles of the family Gyrinidae, commonly seen circling rapidly about in large numbers on the surface of the water …  

  • Whirligig (disambiguation) — Whirligig is a generic name for an object that spins or whirls (or has whirling parts). The term may specifically refer to one of the following*Whirligig beetle *Whirligig mite, Anystis baccarum (L.) *Samara, fruit falling in spiral (from ash… …   Wikipedia

  • whirligig — ► NOUN 1) a toy that spins round, e.g. a top or windmill. 2) another term for ROUNDABOUT(Cf. ↑roundabout) (in sense 2). 3) (also whirligig beetle) a small black water beetle which typically swims rapidly in circles on the surface. ORIGIN from… …   English terms dictionary

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