cockroach

[kok-rohch]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cockroach ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any of numerous orthopterous insects of the family Blattidae, characterized by a flattened body, rapid movements, and nocturnal habits and including several common household pests.

Compare American cockroach, German cockroach, oriental cockroach.

Origin of cockroach

1615–25; < Spanish cucaracha, of uncertain origin, assimilated by folk etymology to cock¹, roach²

Also called roach.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cockroach

tick, vermin, pest, mite, bee, butterfly, gnat, dragonfly, moth, grasshopper, spider, termite, ant, mosquito, beetle, flea, aphid, ladybug, fly, louse

Examples from the Web for cockroach

Contemporary Examples of cockroach

It was also full of s--t, a coach scrambling like a cockroach.
Syracuse Coach's Boneheaded Defense of Assistant Accused of Sexual Abuse
Buzz Bissinger
November 29, 2011
Cockroach begins with a failed suicide attempt by the protagonist.
This Week's Hot Reads
The Daily Beast
October 20, 2009

Historical Examples of cockroach

Crept about the decks like a wretched insect—like a cockroach, only not so lively.
Tales Of Hearsay
Joseph Conrad
It has also the habit of paralysing the cockroach by stinging it on the nervous chain.
The Industries of Animals
Frdric Houssay
Finally, the cockroach began to fly; then, for a while, he had matters his own way.
The Idler Magazine, Volume III, April 1893
Various
When the cockroach crawls, he knows whither and wherefore he wants to go?
Foma Gordyeff
Maxim Gorky
But not you, you can't; you ain't got the invention of a cockroach.
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson

British Dictionary definitions for cockroach

cockroach

noun

any insect of the suborder Blattodea (or Blattaria), such as Blatta orientalis (oriental cockroach or black beetle): order Dictyoptera ., They have an oval flattened body with long antennae and biting mouthparts and are common household pestsSee also German cockroach, mantis

Word Origin for cockroach

C17: from Spanish cucaracha, of obscure origin

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

Word Origin and History for cockroach

1620s, folk etymology (as if from cock + roach) of Spanish cucaracha "chafer, beetle," from cuca "kind of caterpillar." Folk etymology also holds that the first element is from caca "excrement."

A certaine India Bug, called by the Spaniards a Cacarootch, the which creeping into Chests they eat and defile with their ill-sented dung [Capt. John Smith, "Virginia," 1624].