LOUSE (lice)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: lice   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does louse mean? 

• LOUSE (noun)
  The noun LOUSE has 4 senses:

1. wingless usually flattened bloodsucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animals

2. a person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect

3. any of several small insects especially aphids that feed by sucking the juices from plants

4. wingless insect with mouth parts adapted for biting; mostly parasitic on birds

  Familiarity information: LOUSE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOUSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wingless usually flattened bloodsucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

louse; sucking louse

Hypernyms ("louse" is a kind of...):

insect (small air-breathing arthropod)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "louse"):

common louse; Pediculus humanus (head or body louse)

head louse; Pediculus capitis (infests the head and body of humans)

body louse; cootie; Pediculus corporis (a parasitic louse that infests the body of human beings)

crab; crab louse; Phthirius pubis; pubic louse (a louse that infests the pubic region of the human body)

Holonyms ("louse" is a member of...):

Anoplura; order Anoplura (sucking lice)

Derivation:

lousy (infested with lice)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dirt ball; insect; louse; worm

Hypernyms ("louse" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any of several small insects especially aphids that feed by sucking the juices from plants

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

louse; plant louse

Hypernyms ("louse" is a kind of...):

homopteran; homopterous insect (insects having membranous forewings and hind wings)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "louse"):

aphid (any of various small plant-sucking insects)

adelgid (any of various insects that feed and form galls on conifers)

grape louse; grape phylloxera; Phylloxera vitifoleae (destructive to various grape plants)

jumping plant louse; psylla; psyllid (small active cicada-like insect with hind legs adapted for leaping; feeds on plant juices)

oak blight (a black plant louse that lives on oaks and dogwoods)

Derivation:

lousy (infested with lice)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Wingless insect with mouth parts adapted for biting; mostly parasitic on birds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

bird louse; biting louse; louse

Hypernyms ("louse" is a kind of...):

insect (small air-breathing arthropod)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "louse"):

chicken louse; Menopon gallinae; Menopon palladum; shaft louse (a louse parasitic on poultry)

Holonyms ("louse" is a member of...):

Mallophaga; order Mallophaga (biting lice)

Derivation:

lousy (infested with lice)

 Context examples 

Lice and nits are easiest to detect at the neckline and behind the ears.

(Head Lice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Lice spread most commonly by close person-to-person contact.

(Lice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

I could see distinctly the limbs of these vermin with my naked eye, much better than those of a European louse through a microscope, and their snouts with which they rooted like swine.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It is spread by lice infected with the bacteria.

(Epidemic Louse-Borne Typhus, NCI Thesaurus)

Lice attach tightly to hair, fur, and feathers of the host organism and feed on blood, skin, and sebaceous secretions.

(Lice, NCI Thesaurus)

Common causes are: • Allergic reactions • Eczema • Dry skin • Insect bites and stings • Irritating chemicals • Parasites such as pinworms, scabies, head and body lice • Pregnancy • Rashes • Reactions to medicines

(Itching, NIH)

Medications used to treat lice and scabies infestations.

(Pediculicide, NCI Thesaurus)

When body lice are not feeding on blood, they live in the seams and folds of clothing.

(Human Body Louse, NCI Thesaurus)

Malathion exerts its action on the nervous system of the lice by irreversibly inhibiting the activity of cholinesterase, thereby allowing acetylcholine to accumulate at cholinergic synapses and enhancing cholinergic receptor stimulation.

(Malathion, NCI Thesaurus)

DDT was once widely used as a pesticide to control insects in agriculture and to control malaria, typhus and body lice, but its use is now limited.

(Chlorophenothane, NCI Thesaurus)