ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Chrysalis

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈkɹɪsəlɪs/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Chrysalis is a noun meaning The bare hanging cocoon of butterfly pupae; (originally) any cocoon.

Meaning

The bare hanging cocoon of butterfly pupae; (originally) any cocoon.

More Meanings

  1. (figurative) Any limiting environment or situation escaped during one's growth or development in the manner of a butterfly.
  2. To form a chrysalis or cocoon.
  3. To metamorphize, to undergo metamorphosis, to transform.
  4. A butterfly pupa or the pupal stage of the butterfly lifestyle; (originally) any pupal stage of any insect wherein the pupa is largely inactive and takes no food.

Example Sentences

Caterpillars, chrysalisses soon reveal / The future gandy butterfly.
A project on butterflies! And caterpillars and chrysalisses and things, and lots of nice drawings, coloured with felt pens.
Fanny was afraid. She was like an insect new-hatched from its chrysalis, naked and unprotected in a dawn she could not face.
However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.

Word Forms

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include pupa, chrysaloid, chrysalid, cocoon, teleiochrysalis, puparium.

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Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.