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

Noun Inflected Forms

booklice

plural

Etymology

Origin of booklouse

First recorded in 1865–70; book + louse

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

booklice

It takes some trawling through the book to discover that by "mites" in insect collections, Browne probably means "booklice", i.e.

From Practical Taxidermy A manual of instruction to the amateur in collecting, preserving, and setting up natural history specimens of all kinds. To which is added a chapter upon the pictorial arrangement of museums. With additional instructions in modelling and artistic taxidermy. by Browne, Montagu

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