Bug Definition

bŭg
bugged, bugging, bugs
noun
bugs
Any of an order (Hemiptera) of insects with sucking mouthparts and with forewings thickened toward the base, as a water bug or squash bug.
Webster's New World
An insect of any kind, such as a cockroach or a ladybug.
American Heritage Medicine
Any small arthropod, esp. if regarded as a pest, as a louse, cockroach, or centipede.
Webster's New World
A disease-producing microorganism or agent.
A flu bug.
American Heritage Medicine
Any microscopic organism, esp. one causing disease; germ or virus.
Webster's New World
verb
bugged, bugging, bugs
To bulge or open wide, as in amazement.
Webster's New World
To hide a microphone in (a room, etc.), as for recording a conversation secretly.
Webster's New World
To annoy, bother, anger, etc.
Webster's New World
To confuse or puzzle.
Webster's New World
To prey on; worry.
A memory that bugged me for years.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
  • not bother
idiom
put a bug in (someone's) ear
  • To impart useful information to (another) in a subtle, discreet way.
American Heritage
bug off
  • to stop annoying someone and leave
Webster's New World
bug out
  • to run away; desert
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Bug

Noun

Singular:
bug
Plural:
bugs

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Bug

Origin of Bug

  • Perhaps alteration (influenced by obsolete bug hobgoblin bugbear) of Middle English boude, budde beetle, weevil from Old English -budda as in scearnbudda dung beetle Low German dialectal budde louse

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English budde (“beetle”), from Old English budda (see scearnbudda (“dung beetle”)), from Proto-Germanic *buddô, *buzdô (compare Low German Budde (“louse, grub”), Norwegian budda (“newborn domestic animal”)). More at bud.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”), from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”) (compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge (“goblin”, “snot”)

    From Wiktionary

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