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Bug   /bəg/   Listen
noun
Bug  n.  
1.
A bugbear; anything which terrifies. (Obs.) "Sir, spare your threats: The bug which you would fright me with I seek."
2.
(Zool.) A general name applied to various insects belonging to the Hemiptera; as, the squash bug; the chinch bug, etc.
3.
(Zool.) An insect of the genus Cimex, especially the bedbug (Cimex lectularius). See Bedbug.
4.
(Zool.) One of various species of Coleoptera; as, the ladybug; potato bug, etc.; loosely, any beetle.
5.
(Zool.) One of certain kinds of Crustacea; as, the sow bug; pill bug; bait bug; salve bug, etc. 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." (). "This bug with gilded wings."
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!"
7.
Any unexpected defect or flaw, such as in a machine or a plan.
8.
A hidden electronic listening device, used to hear or record conversations surreptitiously.
9.
An infectious microorganism; a germ (4). (Colloq.)
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".
11.
An enthusiast; used mostly in combination, as a camera bug. (Colloq.)
Bait bug. See under Bait.
Bug word, swaggering or threatening language. (Obs.)


verb
Bug  v. t.  To annoy; to bother or pester.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Bug" Quotes from Famous Books



... this," grumbled Mark. "Nor half so bad. How are we going to get out of this chasm? Why, just as Washington says, we've been swallowed up like a duck gobbling a June bug." ...
— On a Torn-Away World • Roy Rockwood
... the beetle, sometimes called the May bug, is a formidable enemy to the husbandman, and has been found to swarm in such numbers, as to devour every kind of vegetable production. The insect is first generated in the earth, from the eggs deposited by the fly in its perfect state. ...
— The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, • Mary Eaton
... makes a third attempt, then a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, till she becomes very much excited. "What could have happened? Am I dreaming? Has that beetle hoodooed me?" she seems to say, and in her dismay she lets the bug drop, and looks bewilderedly about her. Then she flies away through the woods, calling. "Going for her mate," I said to Ted. "She is in deep trouble, and she ...
— Good Stories For Great Holidays - Arranged for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and for the - Children's Own Reading • Frances Jenkins Olcott
... daughters were all white and very pretty. She led them out into the farmyard, clucking and scratching busily; for all were hungry, and ran chirping round her to pick up the worms and seeds she found for them. Cocky soon began to help take care of his sisters; and when a nice corn or a fat bug was found, he would step back and let little Downy or Snowball have it. But Peck would run and push them away, and gobble up the food greedily. He chased them away from the pan where the meal was, and picked the down off their necks if they tried to get their share. His mother scolded him ...
— The Louisa Alcott Reader - A Supplementary Reader for the Fourth Year of School • Louisa M. Alcott
... fleets of commerce, With proud breasts cleaving the tide,— Like emmet or bug with its burden, the tug Hither and thither plied,— Where the quick paddles flashed, where the dropped anchor plashed, And rattled the running chain, Where the merchantman swung in the current, where sung The sailors ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 89, March, 1865 • Various


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