bioluminescence
bioluminescence — noun
1. A natural glow that certain animals, including fireflies and deep-sea fish, prod
A natural glow that certain animals, including fireflies and deep-sea fish, produce inside their bodies through a chemical reaction.
At night, the boat sailed through water glowing with blue bioluminescence from tiny sea creatures.
uncountable noun: used with 'with' to describe a scene
The fireflies filled the summer garden with a soft green bioluminescence that looked like tiny stars.
collocation: 'filled with bioluminescence'
Marine biologists study bioluminescence to understand how deep-sea animals communicate in the dark ocean.
Some mushrooms in tropical forests produce a faint bioluminescence that lights up the ground at night.
- luminescence
broader term; covers both natural and artificial cool light, while bioluminescence is specifically from living organisms
- phosphorescence
sometimes confused with bioluminescence, but phosphorescence is a type of light stored and slowly released by certain materials, not produced by a living creature
- glow
informal and much broader; can describe any steady light, not necessarily from a living organism
用法筆記
Uncountable when used alone, but 'a/an [adjective] bioluminescence' is acceptable when the quality or type of light is specified (e.g. 'a faint bioluminescence'). Always describes a natural phenomenon, not artificial light.