body louse

body louse

n. A parasitic louse (Pediculus humanus subsp. humanus) that infests the clothes and body of humans and can transmit diseases such as typhus.

louse

(n. laʊs; v. also laʊz)

n., pl. lice (līs) for 1–3, lous•es for 4, n. 1. any of various small, flat, wingless insects of the order Anoplura, with sucking mouthparts, that are parasitic on humans and other mammals, as Pediculus humanuscapitis (head louse) and P. humanus corporis (body louse). 2. any similar insect of the order Mallophaga, with biting mouthparts, parasitic on birds and some mammals. 3. aphid. 4. Slang. a contemptible person. v.t. 5. to delouse. 6. louse up, Slang. to spoil; botch. [before 900; Middle English lous(e),luse, Old English lūs, c. Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, Old High German, Old Norse lūs]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

body louse - a parasitic louse that infests the body of human beingscootie, Pediculus corporislouse, sucking louse - wingless usually flattened bloodsucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animalsgenus Pediculus, Pediculus - type genus of Pediculidae: true lice infecting humans

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