Found 1 items, similar to Bug word.
English → English (gcide)
Definition: Bug word
Bug
\Bug\ (b[u^]g), n. [OE. bugge, fr. W. bwg, bwgan, hobgoblin,
scarecrow, bugbear. Cf.
Bogey,
Boggle.]
1. A bugbear; anything which terrifies. [Obs.]
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Sir, spare your threats:
The bug which you would fright me with I seek.
--Shak.
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2. (Zo["o]l.) A general name applied to various insects
belonging to the Hemiptera; as, the squash bug; the chinch
bug, etc.
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3. (Zo["o]l.) An insect of the genus
Cimex, especially the
bedbug (
Cimex lectularius). See
Bedbug.
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4. (Zo["o]l.) One of various species of Coleoptera; as, the
ladybug; potato bug, etc.; loosely, any beetle.
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5. (Zo["o]l.) One of certain kinds of Crustacea; as, the sow
bug; pill bug; bait bug; salve bug, etc.
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Note: According to popular usage in England and among
housekeepers in America around 1900, bug, when not
joined with some qualifying word, was used specifically
for
bedbug. As a general term it is now used very
loosely in America as a colloquial term to mean any
small crawling thing, such as an insect or arachnid,
and was formerly used still more loosely in England.
“God's rare workmanship in the ant, the poorest bug
that creeps.” --Rogers (--Naaman).
“This bug with
gilded wings.” --Pope.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
6. (Computers) An error in the coding of a computer program,
especially one causing the program to malfunction or fail.
See, for example,
year 2000 bug.
“That's not a bug,
it's a feature!”
[PJC]
7. Any unexpected defect or flaw, such as in a machine or a
plan.
[PJC]
8. A hidden electronic listening device, used to hear or
record conversations surreptitiously.
[PJC]
9. An infectious microorganism; a germ[4]. [Colloq.]
[PJC]
10. An undiagnosed illness, usually mild, believed to be
caused by an infectious organism. [Colloq.]
Note: In some communities in the 1990's, the incidence of
AIDS is high and AIDS is referred to colloquially as
“the bug”.
[PJC]
11. An enthusiast; -- used mostly in combination, as a camera
bug. [Colloq.]
[PJC]
Bait bug. See under
Bait.
Bug word, swaggering or threatening language. [Obs.]
--Beau. & Fl.
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