Louse

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Louse \Louse\ (lous), n.; pl. {Lice} (l[imac]s). [OE. lous, AS.
     l[=u]s, pl. l[=y]s; akin to D. luis, G. laus, OHG. l[=u]s,
     Icel. l[=u]s, Sw. lus, Dan. luus; perh. so named because it
     is destructive, and akin to E. lose, loose.] (Zool.)
     1. Any one of numerous species of small, wingless, suctorial,
        parasitic insects belonging to a tribe ({Pediculina}), now


        usually regarded as degraded Hemiptera. To this group
        belong of the lice of man and other mammals; as, the head
        louse of man ({Pediculus capitis}), the body louse
        ({Pediculus vestimenti}), and the crab louse ({Phthirius
        pubis}), and many others. See {Crab louse}, {Dog louse},
        {Cattle louse}, etc., under {Crab}, {Dog}, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any one of numerous small mandibulate insects, mostly
        parasitic on birds, and feeding on the feathers. They are
        known as Mallophaga, or bird lice, though some occur on
        the hair of mammals. They are usually regarded as degraded
        Pseudoneuroptera. See {Mallophaga}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Any one of the numerous species of aphids, or plant lice.
        See {Aphid}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Any small crustacean parasitic on fishes. See
        {Branchiura}, and {Ichthvophthira}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The term is also applied to various other parasites;
           as, the whale louse, beelouse, horse louse.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Louse fly} (Zool.), a parasitic dipterous insect of the
        group Pupipara. Some of them are wingless, as the bee
        louse.
  
     {Louse mite} (Zool.), any one of numerous species of mites
        which infest mammals and birds, clinging to the hair and
        feathers like lice. They belong to {Myobia},
        {Dermaleichus}, {Mycoptes}, and several other genera.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Louse \Louse\ (louz), v. t.
     To clean from lice. "You sat and loused him." --Swift.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  louse
       n 1: wingless usually flattened blood-sucking insect parasitic on
            warm-blooded animals [syn: {sucking louse}]
       2: a person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving
          of respect [syn: {worm}, {insect}, {dirt ball}]
       3: any of several small insects especially aphids that feed by
          sucking the juices from plants [syn: {plant louse}]
       4: wingless insect with mouth parts adapted for biting; mostly
          parasitic on birds [syn: {bird louse}, {biting louse}]
       [also: {lice} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  41 Moby Thesaurus words for "louse":
     SOB, bastard, bugger, cat flea, chigoe, cockroach, crab, creep,
     cur, dog, dog flea, fart, flea, grayback, heel, hood, hooligan,
     jerk, jigger, meanie, mite, mother, nit, parasite, pill, rat,
     red bug, roach, sand flea, shit, shithead, shitheel, skunk, snake,
     stinkard, stinker, toad, turd, vermin, weevil, wretch