Bedbug
a flat, wingless, bloodsucking hemipterous insect, Cimex lectularius, that infests houses and especially beds.
any of several other bloodsucking bugs of the family Cimicidae.
Historical Examples
It made a luxurious bed, and quite free from vermin; for a bedbug will never approach a bearskin.
In Search of a Siberian Klondike Homer B. Hulbert
He has found the parasite in all stages of development in the bedbug.
Insects and Diseases Rennie W. Doane
In Kansas, the bedbug is improperly called the chintz-bug, and is believed to dwell under the bark of the cotton-wood tree.
Guide to Hotel Housekeeping Mary E. Palmer
Two years ago I had occasion to visit 21— Armour Avenue, a “50-cent house” in the infamous “bedbug row district.”
Chicago’s Black Traffic in White Girls Jean Turner-Zimmermann
Well, I should eat a bedbug, if you can surpass it in this old town for dazzle.
Edith and John Franklin S. Farquhar
The bedbug has not been seen in a year in Porto Rico, though there is no reason why it should not be here.
The Popular Science Monthly, September, 1900 Various
But on the subject of the Terran Federation, he’s crazy as a bedbug.
The Cosmic Computer Henry Beam Piper
The physiology and activity of the bedbug (Cimex lectularius L.) in a natural infestation.
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches Louis M. Roth
The spread of the bedbug is mainly due to its being carried from place to place in furniture and clothing.
Guide to Hotel Housekeeping Mary E. Palmer
The bedbug is more of a tradition than a fact, and many of those who shudder at mention of him have never seen one of his kind.
Happiness as Found in Forethought Minus Fearthought Horace Fletcher
noun
any of several bloodsucking insects of the heteropterous genus Cimex, esp C. lectularius of temperate regions, having an oval flattened wingless body and infesting dirty houses: family Cimicidae
n.
also bed-bug, 1772, from bed (n.) + bug (n.).
[The bed bug] is supposed to have been first introduced to this country in the fir timber that was brought over to rebuild London after it had suffered by the great fire; for it is generally said that Bugs were not known in England before that time, and many of them were found almost immediately afterwards in the new-built houses. [the Rev. W. Bingley, “Animal Biography; or Anecdotes of the Lives, Manners, and Economy of the Animal Creation,” London, 1803]
bedbug bed·bug (běd’bŭg’)
n.
A wingless, odorous insect with a flat, reddish body that infests dwellings and bedding and feeds on human blood.
Related Terms
crazy as a loon
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an adjustable frame for assisting invalids to sit up in bed.
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bedroom. Historical Examples Why is the bedchamber filled with a crowd of deities, when even the groomsmen have departed? The City of God, Volume I Aurelius Augustine A month has elapsed,—and we stand in the bedchamber of Sir John Chester. Barnaby Rudge Charles Dickens Some of the same animals came to visit Schrader in his […]
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an inspection conducted soon after bedtime or during the night, as in a barracks or dormitory, to determine the presence or absence of persons required by regulation to be in bed. Historical Examples I was given a bed check corresponding to the number of my hat, and told to go upstairs. Broke Edwin A. Brown
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coverings for a bed, as sheets and blankets; bedding. Contemporary Examples It will be difficult, this new life of yours, you think as you try, and fail, not to spill chicken soup on the bedclothes. So You Have an Inconsequential But Awful Illness Kelly Williams Brown January 17, 2014 In the master bedroom suite the […]
- Bedclothing
bedclothes; bedding. Historical Examples The bedclothing consists of as many similar futons as the state of the weather may require. Japanese Girls and Women Alice Mabel Bacon If this has been done the bedclothing has had a chance to air. The Expert Maid-Servant Cristine Terhune Herrick It was, perhaps, ten o’clock when Kitty threw back […]