| See under louse (def. 1). |
[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. |
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.
pubic louse
sucking louse in the human louse family, Pediculidae (suborder Anoplura, order Phthiraptera), that is found principally at the pubic and perianal areas, occasionally on the hairs of the thighs and abdomen, and rarely on other hairy regions of the human body. It is broad and small, averaging 1.5 to 2 mm (0.01 to 0.08 inch) in length. Its first pair of legs is smaller than the other two pairs. When seen under magnification, it looks like a crab
Learn more about pubic louse with a free trial on Britannica.com.