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Goose vs Firefly - What's the difference?

goose | firefly |

As nouns the difference between goose and firefly

is that goose is any of various grazing waterfowl of the family anatidae, bigger than a duck while firefly is any beetle of the family lampyridae, which exhibit bioluminescence during twilight.

As a verb goose

is (slang) to sharply poke or pinch someone's buttocks derived from a goose's inclination to bite at a retreating intruder's hindquarters.

goose

English

Noun

(geese)
  • Any of various grazing waterfowl of the family Anatidae, bigger than a duck
    • There is a flock of geese on the pond.
  • The flesh of the goose used as food.
  • *
  • (slang) A silly person
  • * {{quote-book, 1906, Langdon Mitchell, chapter=The New York Idea, Best Plays of the Early American Theatre, 1787-1911, page=430 citation
    • , passage=I'm sorry for you, but you're such a goose .}}
  • (archaic) A tailor's iron, heated in live coals or embers, used to press fabrics.
  • * Scene 3:
    • Come in, tailor. Here you may roast your goose .
  • (South Africa, slang, dated) A young woman or girlfriend.

    • Usage notes

    * A male goose is called a gander. A young goose is a gosling. * A group of geese can be called a gaggle when they are on the ground or in the water, and a skein or a wedge when they are in flight.

    Synonyms

    * (sense, tailor's iron) goose iron

    Derived terms

    * game of the goose * goose egg * goose game * goose pimple * gooseneck * goose-step * Mother Goose * what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander * one's goose is cooked

    See also

    * duck * eider * gander * swan * waterfowl

    Verb

    (goos)
  • (slang) To sharply poke or pinch someone's buttocks. Derived from a goose's inclination to bite at a retreating intruder's hindquarters.
  • To stimulate, to spur.
  • (slang) To gently accelerate an automobile or machine, or give repeated small taps on the accelerator.
  • (UK slang) Of private-hire taxi drivers, to pick up a passenger who has not pre-booked a cab. This is unauthorised under UK licensing conditions.
    • English nouns with irregular plurals

    firefly

    English

    (wikipedia firefly) (Lampyridae)

    Noun

  • Any beetle of the family Lampyridae, which exhibit bioluminescence during twilight.
  • * 2000 , Exploring Life Science , 2: Bats—Cave Life, Marshall Cavendish, page 96,
    • Fireflies' are the best-known insects that produce light.Many ' fireflies use their light to communicate, particularly at mating time when males and females have to get together.
  • * 2004 , B. V. David, T. N. Ananthakrishnan, Chapter 20: Bioluminescence'', ''General and Applied Entomology , Tata McGraw-Hill, 2nd Edition, page 130,
    • The luciferins are different in different species and today both the luciferin and luciferase in the firefly are available in the crystalline form.
  • * 2007 , Lars Olof Björn, Helen Ghiradella, 23: Bioluminescence'', Lars Olof Björn (editor), ''Photobiology: The Science of Life and Light , Springer, 2nd Edition, page 607,
    • Various other luciferase genes, especially the firefly' luciferase gene, are also used for the study of gene regulation.The classic use of bioluminescence, however, is the use of a luciferin-luciferase mixture from ' fireflies as an assay for ATP.

    Synonyms

    * (beetle) lightning bug

    See also

    * glowworm