chinch
/tʃɪn(t)ʃ
/(also chinch bug)
noun
A plant-eating ground bug that forms large swarms on grasses and rushes.
- Two species in the family Lygaeidae, suborder Heteroptera: the American Blissus leucopterus and the European Ischnodemus sabuleti.
- The chinch bug is a native North American insect that can destroy cultivated grass crops, especially sorghum and corn, and occasionally small grains, such as wheat and barley.
- Although chinch bug numbers are not high in most fields, growers should check fields frequently during the next couple of weeks to identify problem fields.
Origin
Early 17th century (in the sense 'bedbug'): from Spanish chinche, from Latin cimex, cimic-.