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red bug

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red⋅bug

  [red-buhg]
Use red bug in a Sentence
–noun Chiefly South Atlantic States.
chigger (def. 1).
Origin:
1795–1805; red 1 + bug 1
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chig⋅ger

  [chig-er]
–noun
1. Also called harvest mite, redbug. the six-legged larva of a mite of the family Trombiculidae, parasitic on humans and other vertebrates, sucking blood and causing severe itching and acting as a vector of scrub typhus and other infectious diseases.
2. chigoe.
Also, jigger.

Origin:
1735–45, Americanism; var. of chigoe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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chig·ger   (chĭg'ər)   
n.  

  1. Any of various small, six-legged larvae of mites of the family Trombiculidae, parasitic on insects, humans, and other vertebrates. The chigger's bite produces a wheal that is usually accompanied by severe itching. Also called chigoe, harvest bug, harvest mite, jigger2, red bug.

  2. See chigoe.


[Alteration of chigoe.]
red bug also red·bug   (rěd'bŭg')
n.  See chigger.
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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Word Origin & History

chigger 
1756, from W.Indies chigoe (1668), possibly from Carib, or of African origin (cf. Wolof and Yoruba jiga "insect").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: chig·ger
Pronunciation: 'chig-&r, 'jig-
Function: noun
1 : CHIGOE1
2 : a 6-legged mite larva of the family Trombiculidae that sucks the blood of vertebrates and causes intense irritation

Main Entry: red bug
Pronunciation: -"b&g
Function: noun
Southern & Midland : CHIGGER 2
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

chigger (chĭg'ər)
n.

  1. The six-legged larva of mites of the family Trombiculidae, parasitic on humans and other vertebrates and inflicting a bite that produces a wheal accompanied by intense itching. Also called harvest bug, harvest mite, jigger, red bug.

  2. Chigoe.

red bug or redbug
n.
See chigger.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

red bug

any insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae (order Heteroptera), which contains more than 300 species. The red bug-a fairly common, gregarious, plant-feeding insect found mostly in the tropics and subtropics-is oval in shape and brightly coloured with red. It ranges in length from 8 to 18 mm (0.3 to 0.7 inch). Dimorphism, a condition in which two or more visibly different forms exist, may occur in some species (e.g., Pyrrhocoris apterus can be winged or wingless)

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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