earwig
Americannoun
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earwigs
plural
verb (used with object)
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earwigs,
present (3rd person singular)
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earwigged,
past participle, past
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earwigging
present participle
noun
verb
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informal to eavesdrop
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archaic (tr) to attempt to influence (a person) by private insinuation
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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earwigsimple
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earwigssimple
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have earwiggedperfect
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has earwiggedperfect
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am earwiggingprogressive
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are earwiggingprogressive
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is earwiggingprogressive
-
have been earwiggingperfect progressive
-
has been earwiggingperfect progressive
Past
-
earwiggedsimple
-
had earwiggedperfect
-
was earwiggingprogressive
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were earwiggingprogressive
-
had been earwiggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of earwig
before 1000; Middle English erwigge, Old English ēarwicga ear insect; from the notion that it enters people's ears. See wiggle
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:
Which is why, as Nike reaches its golden anniversary, it’s worth considering how the swoosh became the branding earwig of the millennium, tunneling into our brains to colonize our imaginations.
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2022
Amoia also has a 13-inch moth across his throat and chest, a 2.5-inch beetle over his right eye and a 2.5-inch earwig behind his right ear, according to Guinness.
From Fox News ● Feb. 2, 2022
I was finally given a radio, but I wasn't shown how to use it, so I had to earwig on someone else who was having a lesson.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2012
His whole career is an insidious and destructive work of art -- maybe not "termite art," in Manny Farber's oft-misunderstood phrase, but more like earwig art.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2010
But then there was Carly, looking down at her like she was an earwig.
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
“Ewwww, there are bugs,” said student Cassie Scott, when she spotted earwigs in the husks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Arthropods ranging from earwigs to some beetles to crickets or spiders living in the soil face particular challenges due to nasty fungal infections and a high risk of predators lurking in leaf litter.
From Salon ● May 11, 2025
They also showed that about 30% of the seeds excreted by woodlice and earwigs remained viable.
From Science Magazine ● May 8, 2024
Canned fish-flavored cat food has the same effect on earwigs that a Brussels sprouts casserole has on me: It drives them crazy with desire.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 23, 2022
‘You is hearing only thumping loud noises with those little earwigs of yours. But I am hearing all the secret whisperings of the world!’
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
He was so afraid of appearing to be ruled by a favourite that he would not take good advice, but was easily earwigged by flatterers who played on his weakness for appearing independent.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 8 "Chariot" to "Chatelaine" by Various
“The thought of Piers Morgan and his band of journalists earwigging into my mother’s private and sensitive messages … three months prior to her death in Paris, makes me feel physically sick,” Harry wrote.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
This warm podcast often feels like earwigging on a conversation between two mates, with recent guests including Search Party’s Alia Shawkat, Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay and Drag Race contestant-turned-comedian Trixie Mattel.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 30, 2018
If the tabloids are outraged, well, maybe they shouldn't have been earwigging while the grown-ups were talking.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 19, 2013
"I was in the House of Commons last night, and there I saw the defendant's counsel earwigging the judge."
From Hard Cash by Charles Reade
I can imagine a young ant getting a severe earwigging from one of the major-domos for its stupidity.
From The Naturalist in Nicaragua by Thomas Belt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
