butterfly

papillon

Insecte au corps fin et aux grandes ailes, souvent vivement colorées.

En anglais simple : An insect with a thin body and large, often brightly coloured wings.

• A butterfly landed on the flower.
• We saw yellow butterflies in the garden.
• This caterpillar will become a butterfly.

Expressions courantes : colourful butterfly, butterfly wings, butterfly garden

bandelette de suture

Petite bande médicale adhésive qui maintient ensemble les bords d’une coupure.

En anglais simple : A small strip of sticky medical tape used to hold the edges of a cut together.

• The nurse applied a butterfly bandage.
• Butterfly strips held the small cut closed.
• Keep the butterfly tape dry until tomorrow.

Synonymes : wound closure strip

Expressions courantes : butterfly bandage, butterfly strips, butterfly tape

changement indirect

Changement inattendu dans une histoire imaginée, causé indirectement par la modification d’un événement antérieur.

En anglais simple : An unexpected change in an imagined history caused indirectly by an earlier event changing.

• That different birth date is a butterfly.
• The writer added several butterflies to the alternate timeline.
• This butterfly has little connection to the original change.

Synonymes : ripple effect

Expressions courantes : unexpected butterfly, possible butterfly, historical butterfly

ouvrir en papillon

Couper un aliment presque en deux puis l’ouvrir à plat, en laissant les deux côtés attachés.

En anglais simple : To cut food almost in half and open it out flat, leaving the two sides joined.

• Butterfly the chicken before cooking it.
• She butterflied the prawns with a sharp knife.
• Can you butterfly this piece of meat?

Synonymes : split open

Expressions courantes : butterfly a chicken, butterfly the shrimp, butterfly the meat

modifier le cours de l’histoire

Modifier un événement antérieur pour changer indirectement les événements suivants ou empêcher certaines personnes d’exister.

En anglais simple : To indirectly change later events or prevent particular people from existing by changing an earlier event.

• That change would butterfly her birth away.
• The author butterflied the election by changing an earlier war.
• An altered timeline can butterfly people who were born later.

Comment l'utiliser : butterfly someone/something away (The earlier peace treaty butterflied several future leaders away.)

Expressions courantes : butterfly someone away, butterfly later events