kissing bug

noun

Informal.
1. a person much given to kissing.
2. an irresistible desire to kiss or be kissed.
any of several assassin bugs that attack humans, sometimes inflicting painful bites.

kissing bug

a North American assassin bug, Melanolestes picipes, with a painful bite, usually attacking the lips or cheeks of man

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

An interesting psychological study was afforded in the summer of 1899, by the "kissing-bug" scare which swept over the country.

As the story went West, bites by Conorhinus sanguisuga and Rasatus thoracicus were without doubt termed "kissing-bug" bites.

Their bites and blood-sucking habits gave cause to the "kissing-bug" scare to which the newspapers gave great publicity.

This kissing bug was just ready to pounce, on you, and poison you, when I grabbed it and killed it.

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