booklouse

American

[book-lous] / ˈbʊkˌlaʊs /

Or book louse

noun

any of numerous minute, wingless insects of the order Psocoptera, often living among books or papers.

booklouse British

/ ˈbʊkˌlaʊs /

noun

any small insect of the order Psocoptera , esp Trogium pulsatorium ( common booklouse ), a wingless species that feeds on bookbinding paste, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

booklice

plural

Etymology

Origin of booklouse

First recorded in 1865–70; book + louse

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023