1. Nocturnal beetle common in warm regions having luminescent abdominal organs; SYN. lightning bug.
2. Tropical American click beetle having bright luminous spots; SYN. fire beetle, Pyrophorus noctiluca.
British tank destroyer of World War II. Until the Comet appeared it was the only tank in British service capable of taking on the German Tiger and Panther tanks with a reasonable chance of success.
The Firefly was actually a Sherman tank fitted with a 17-pounder high velocity antitank gun in place of the original 75 mm medium-velocity gun. First conceived 1943, production began Feb 1944, and one was issued for every four-tank troop.
The idea was initially not taken up by US forces, who considered the normal 75 mm gun sufficient, but battle experience in Normandy soon led them to demand that US equivalents be developed. They never were, so instead British Firefly tanks were passed across to US units on the orders of General Montgomery.
Any winged nocturnal beetle of the family Lampyridae. They all emit light through the process of bioluminescence. SYN. fire-fly