painted lady

noun

a butterfly, Vanessa cardui, having brownish-black and orange wings and hind wings each with four eyespots, the larvae of which feed on thistles.

Origin of painted lady

First recorded in 1745–55

Words nearby painted lady

painted bunting, painted cup, painted desert, painted greenling, painted horse, painted lady, painted snipe, painted tongue, painted trillium, painted turtle, painted woman

British Dictionary definitions for painted lady

painted lady

noun

a migratory nymphalid butterfly, Vanessa cardui, with pale brownish-red mottled wings