lacewing

[ leys-wing ]

/ ˈleɪsˌwɪŋ /

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noun

any of several insects of the family Chrysopidae, having delicate, lacelike wings and golden or copper-colored eyes, the larvae of which are predaceous on aphids and other small insects.

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Origin of lacewing

First recorded in 1850–55; lace + wing

Words nearby lacewing

Lacerta, lacertid, lacertilian, lace stay, lace-up, lacewing, lacewood, lacework, Lacey, La Chaise, lachanophobia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lacewing in a sentence

Between thirty and forty species of lacewing flies are known to occur in our own country.
The Young Collector's Handbook of Ants, Bees, Dragon-flies, Earwigs, Crickets, and Flies|W. Harcourt Bath
The pretty lacewing knows what an appetite her ever hungry larvæ will have, and so she protects them against each other.
The Insect Folk|Margaret Warner Morley
You see it looks a little like the lacewing larva, and it, too, belongs to the Neuroptera.
The Insect Folk|Margaret Warner Morley
Lacewing-flies of the genus Chrysopa are commonly called golden-eye flies.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 1|Various

May says she supposes the larva of the lacewing is a little monster like that of the corydalus.
The Insect Folk|Margaret Warner Morley

British Dictionary definitions for lacewing

lacewing

/ (ˈleɪsˌwɪŋ) /

noun

any of various neuropterous insects, esp any of the families Chrysopidae (green lacewings) and Hemerobiidae (brown lacewings), having lacy wings and preying on aphids and similar pests

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