Synonyms

firebug

[fahyuhr-buhg]

fire·bug

[fahyuhr-buhg]
noun Informal.
arsonist; incendiary; pyromaniac.

Origin:
1870–75, Americanism; fire + bug1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To firebug

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Firebug is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
firebug (ˈfaɪəˌbʌɡ)
 
n
informal a person who deliberately sets fire to property

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

firebug

a species of insect in the stinkbug family, Pentatomidae (order Heteroptera), that sucks sap and chlorophyll from crops, such as cabbage, causing them to wilt and die. Though of tropical or subtropical origin, this insect now ranges from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in North America. The harlequin cabbage bug is shield-shaped, about 1.25 centimetres (0.5 inch) long, and brilliantly coloured with red, yellow, and black. Fifty to 60 adult harlequin bugs may be found feeding simultaneously on one large plant, and both adult and immature bugs are often found together.

Learn more about firebug with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature