[n. lous; v. lous, louz] 
noun, plural lice [lahys] for 1–3, lous⋅es for 4, verb, loused, lous⋅ing.| 1. | any small, wingless insect of the order Anoplura (sucking louse), parasitic on humans and other mammals and having mouthparts adapted for sucking, as Pediculus humanus (body louse or head louse) and Phthirius pubis (crab louse or pubic louse). |
| 2. | any insect of the order Mallophaga (bird louse, biting louse, or chewing louse), parasitic on birds and mammals, having mouthparts adapted for biting. |
| 3. | plant louse. |
| 4. | Slang. a contemptible person, esp. an unethical one. |
| 5. | to delouse. |
| 6. | louse up, Slang. to spoil; botch: Miscasting loused up the movie. |
| lice (līs) n. Plural of louse. |
| louse (lous) n.
To bungle: loused the project; louse up a deal. [Middle English, from Old English lūs; see lūs- in Indo-European roots.] |
louse
[lɑʊs]
|
lice (līs)
n.
Plural of louse.
louse (lous)
n. pl. lice (līs)
Any of numerous small, flat-bodied, wingless biting or sucking insects of the orders Mallophaga or Anoplura, many of which are external parasites on humans.
Lice
(Heb. kinnim), the creatures employed in the third plague sent upon Egypt (Ex. 8:16-18). They were miraculously produced from the dust of the land. "The entomologists Kirby and Spence place these minute but disgusting insects in the very front rank of those which inflict injury upon man. A terrible list of examples they have collected of the ravages of this and closely allied parasitic pests." The plague of lice is referred to in Ps. 105:31. Some have supposed that the word denotes not lice properly, but gnats. Others, with greater probability, take it to mean the "tick" which is much larger than lice.