[buhg] 
noun, verb, bugged, bug⋅ging.| 1. | Also called true bug, hemipteran, hemipteron. a hemipterous insect. |
| 2. | (loosely) any insect or insectlike invertebrate. |
| 3. | Informal. any microorganism, esp. a virus: He was laid up for a week by an intestinal bug. |
| 4. | Informal. a defect or imperfection, as in a mechanical device, computer program, or plan; glitch: The test flight discovered the bugs in the new plane. |
| 5. | Informal.
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| 6. | Informal.
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| 7. | a mark, as an asterisk, that indicates a particular item, level, etc. |
| 8. | Horse Racing. the five-pound weight allowance that can be claimed by an apprentice jockey. |
| 9. | a telegraph key that automatically transmits a series of dots when moved to one side and one dash when moved to the other. |
| 10. | Poker Slang. a joker that can be used only as an ace or as a wild card to fill a straight or a flush. |
| 11. | Printing. a label printed on certain matter to indicate that it was produced by a union shop. |
| 12. | any of various fishing plugs resembling an insect. |
| 13. | Chiefly British. a bedbug. |
| 14. | to install a secret listening device in (a room, building, etc.) or on (a telephone or other device): The phone had been bugged. |
| 15. | to bother; annoy; pester: She's bugging him to get her into show business. |
| 16. | bug off, Slang. to leave or depart, esp. rapidly: I can't help you, so bug off. |
| 17. | bug out, Slang. to flee in panic; show panic or alarm. |
| 18. | put a bug in someone's ear, to give someone a subtle suggestion; hint: We put a bug in his ear about a new gymnasium. |
bug (bŭg)
n.
A true bug, specifically one having a beaklike structure that allows piercing and sucking.
An insect or similar organism, such as a centipede or an earwig.
A disease-producing microorganism, such as a flu bug.
The illness or disease so produced.
A defect or difficulty, as in a system or design.
bug (bŭg) Pronunciation Key
Our Living Language : The word bug is often used to refer to tiny creatures that crawl along, such as insects and even small animals that are not insects, such as spiders and millipedes. But for scientists the word has a much narrower meaning. In the strictest terms bugs are those insects that have mouthparts adapted for piercing and sucking. The mouthparts of these bugs are contained in a beak-shaped structure. Thus scientists would classify a louse but not a beetle or a cockroach as a bug. In fact, scientists often call lice and their relatives true bugs to distinguish them better from what everyone else calls "bugs." |