%bug%

a. [ See Albugo. ] Of the nature of, or resembling, the white of the eye, or of an egg; albuminous; -- a term applied to textures, humors, etc., which are perfectly white. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Albugines [ L., whiteness, fr. albus white. ] (Med.) Same as Leucoma. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

n. (Zool.) A wingless, bloodsucking, hemipterous insect (Cimex Lectularius), sometimes infesting houses and especially beds. See Illustration in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or } n. (Zool.) A weevil or curculio of various species, as the corn weevil. See Curculio. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) An aquatic hemipterous insect of the genus Notonecta; -- so called from swimming on its back, which gives it the appearance of a little boat. Called also boat fly, boat insect, boatman, and water boatman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bugge, fr. W. bwg, bwgan, hobgoblin, scarecrow, bugbear. Cf. Bogey, Boggle. ] 1. A bugbear; anything which terrifies. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Sir, spare your threats:
The bug which you would fright me with I seek. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A general name applied to various insects belonging to the Hemiptera; as, the squash bug; the chinch bug, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) An insect of the genus Cimex, especially the bedbug (Cimex lectularius). See Bedbug. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) One of various species of Coleoptera; as, the ladybug; potato bug, etc.; loosely, any beetle. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) One of certain kinds of Crustacea; as, the sow bug; pill bug; bait bug; salve bug, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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.” Rogers (Naaman). “This bug with gilded wings.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

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!” [ PJC ]

7. Any unexpected defect or flaw, such as in a machine or a plan. [ PJC ]

8. A hidden electronic listening device, used to hear or record conversations surreptitiously. [ PJC ]

9. An infectious microorganism; a germ{ 4 }. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

10. An undiagnosed illness, usually mild, believed to be caused by an infectious organism. [ Colloq. ] In some communities in the 1990's, the incidence of AIDS is high and AIDS is referred to colloquially as “the bug”. [ PJC ]

11. An enthusiast; -- used mostly in combination, as a camera bug. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

Bait bug. See under Bait. --
Bug word, swaggering or threatening language. [ Obs. ] Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to annoy; to bother or pester. [ PJC ]

n. (Bot.) A perennial white-flowered herb of the order Ranunculaceæ and genus Cimiciguga; bugwort. There are several species. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Bugaboo. -- a. Causing needless fright. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To alarm with idle phantoms. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ See Bug. ] Something frightful, as a specter; anything imaginary that causes needless fright; something used to excite needless fear; also, something really dangerous, or an imaginary monster, used to frighten children, etc. “Bugaboos to fright ye.” Lloyd. [ 1913 Webster ]

But, to the world no bugbear is so great
As want of figure and a small estate. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bugaboo of the liberals is the church pray. S. B. Griffin. [ 1913 Webster ]

The great bugaboo of the birds is the owl. J. Burroughs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a source of concern; as, the old bugaboo of inflation still bothers them. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

Syn. -- Hobgoblin; goblin; specter; ogre; scarecrow; bogeyman; boogeyman; booger. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The menhaden. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bougre, fr. LL. Bulgarus, a Bulgarian, and also a heretic; because the inhabitants of Bulgaria were infected with heresy. Those guilty of the crime of buggery were called heretics, because in the eyes of their adversaries there was nothing more heinous than heresy, and it was therefore thought that the origin of such a vice could only be owing to heretics. ] 1. One guilty of buggery or unnatural vice; a sodomite. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A wretch; -- sometimes used humorously or in playful disparagement. [ Low ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. bougrerie, bogrerie, heresy. See Bugger. ] Unnatural sexual intercourse; sodomy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Buggy, a. ] The state of being infested with bugs. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Bug. ] Infested or abounding with bugs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Buggies. 1. A light one horse two-wheeled vehicle. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Villebeck prevailed upon Flora to drive with him to the race in a buggy. Beaconsfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A light, four-wheeled vehicle, usually with one seat, and with or without a calash top. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Buggy cultivator, a cultivator with a seat for the driver. --
Buggy plow, a plow, or set of plows, having a seat for the driver; -- called also sulky plow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bugle buffalo, buffalo's horn, OF. bugle, fr. L. buculus a young bullock, steer, dim. of bos ox. See Cow the animal. ] A sort of wild ox; a buffalo. E. Phillips. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Bugle a wild ox. ] 1. A horn used by hunters. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) A copper instrument of the horn quality of tone, shorter and more conical that the trumpet, sometimes keyed; formerly much used in military bands, very rarely in the orchestra; now superseded by the cornet; -- called also the Kent bugle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. bugulus a woman's ornament: cf. G. bügel a bent piece of metal or wood, fr. the same root as G. biegen to bend, E. bow to bend. ] An elongated glass bead, of various colors, though commonly black. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Bugle a bead. ] Jet black. “Bugle eyeballs.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bugle; cf. It. bugola, L. bugillo. ] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Ajuga of the Mint family, a native of the Old World. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yellow bugle, the Ajuga chamæpitys. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ornamented with bugles. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A bugle. [ 1913 Webster ]

One blast upon his bugle horn
Were worth a thousand men. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A drinking vessel made of horn. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And drinketh of his bugle horn the wine. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who plays on a bugle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A plant of the Mint family and genus Lycopus; esp. Lycopus Virginicus, which has mild narcotic and astringent properties, and is sometimes used as a remedy for hemorrhage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Buglosses [ F. buglosse, L. buglossa, buglossus, fr. Gr. &unr_; oxtongue &unr_; ox + &unr_; tongue. ] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Anchusa, and especially the Anchusa officinalis, sometimes called alkanet; oxtongue. [ 1913 Webster ]

Small wild bugloss, the Asperugo procumbens and the Lycopsis arvensis. --
Viper's bugloss, a species of Echium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Bugbane. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) see chinch{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

[ From Concord, New Hampshire, where first made. ] A kind of buggy having a body with low sides, and side springs. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ From the Croton water of New York. ] (Zool.) A small, active, winged species of cockroach (Ectobia Germanica), the water bug. It is common aboard ships, and in houses in cities, esp. in those with hot-water pipes; -- called also the German cockroach. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. a criminal who illegaly sets fire to property; an arsonist.
Syn. -- arsonist, incendiary. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a brightly colored type of true bug that can exude a stain. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) A large nocturnal beetle of the genus Lucanus (as Lucanus capreolus, and Lucanus dama), having long, curved upper jaws, resembling a sickle. The grubs are found in the trunks of old trees. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. fr. hum to impose on, deceive + bug a frightful object. ] 1. An imposition under fair pretenses; something contrived in order to deceive and mislead; a trick by cajolery; a hoax. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A spirit of deception; cajolery; trickishness. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who deceives or misleads; a deceitful or trickish fellow; an impostor. Sir J. Stephen. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Humbugged p. pr. & vb. n. Humbugging ] To deceive; to impose; to cajole; to hoax. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who humbugs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The practice of imposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a fast and vigorous American dance that was popular in the 1940s, having few standardized steps and personalized with various twirls, twists, and acrobatic moves; it was performed often to the accompaniment of swing or boogie-woogie tunes. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. i. to do the jitterbug. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) 1. See june beetle. [ PJC ]

2. A firefly. [ Chiefly Northern U. S. ] [ PJC ]

pos>prop. n. [ Probably named after a Duke of Kent. ] (Mus.) A curved bugle, having six finger keys or stops, by means of which the performer can play upon every key in the musical scale; -- called also keyed bugle, and key bugle. Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Zool.) Any one of several species of blood-sucking, venomous Hemiptera that sometimes bite the lip or other parts of the human body, causing painful sores, as the cone-nose (Conorhinus sanguisuga). [ U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Zool.) Same as Ladybird. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a person who litters public places with refuse.
Syn. -- litterer, litter lout. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.), Any of several homopteran scale insects (as, Coccus adonidum, and related species of the families Pseudococcidae and Eriococcidae), that cover themselves with a white powderlike or cottony wax secretion. They are common plant-eating pests in hothouses and are also destructive of fruit trees. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Computers) An error in the coding of certain computer programs which store the year component of the date as two digits, assuming that the first two digits are 19, rather than as a complete number of four digits; when such programs are used after January 1, 2000, the date may be misinterpreted, causing serious errors or total failure of the program; -- called also year 2000 bug, year 2000 problem and Y2K bug. In the several years leading up to the year 2000, large corporations and other users of computers in total spent many billions of dollars correcting this error in the programs they use. [ PJC ]

[ Orig. uncert. ] Any of several clumsy, wingless beetles of the genus Eleodes, found in the Pacific States. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Zool.) A chiton. [ 1913 Webster ]