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firebug

 - 3 dictionary results

fire⋅bug

  [fahyuhr-buhg]
Use firebug in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
arsonist; incendiary; pyromaniac.
Origin:
1870–75, Americanism; fire + bug 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fire·bug   (fīr'bŭg')   
n.   Informal
An arsonist; a pyromaniac.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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