butterflies
n. C / Un. a nervous but excited feeling in your stomach. You usually feel this when you are about to do something important, like giving a speech or going on a first date.
n. a physical sensation of fluttering or tightness in the stomach caused by anxiety or excitement. Plural in form; almost exclusively used in the idiom 'to have butterflies in one's stomach'.
I always get butterflies before I have to speak in public.
She felt butterflies as she waited for the interviewer to call her name.
Even after years of professional performance, the lead violinist admitted to feeling butterflies in the moments before the curtain rose on opening night.
Almost always used in the plural form within the idiomatic phrase 'to have butterflies'.
I have a butterfly in my stomachI have butterflies in my stomachThe idiom for nervousness is always plural; using the singular form refers to the insect rather than the feeling.