flea-bitten

[ flee-bit-n ]

/ ˈfliˌbɪt n /

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adjective

bitten by a flea or fleas.

infested with fleas.

shabby; dilapidated; wretched.

(of a horse) having a light-colored coat with small, dark spots or streaks.

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Origin of flea-bitten

First recorded in 1560–70

Words nearby flea-bitten

flea, fleabag, fleabane, flea beetle, fleabite, flea-bitten, flea collar, flea-flicker, fleam, flea market, fleapit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use flea-bitten in a sentence

"I guess that's the best rabbit dog anywhere around here," he said, as a flea-bitten cur trotted past.
A Yankee from the West|Opie Read
Tying his dejected, flea-bitten grey horse in a stall, he unbuckled his rusty spurs and hung them over the horn of his saddle.
The Long Dim Trail|Forrestine C. Hooker
I was flea-bitten, a mite sarcastic, and fundamentally hungry.
Roads of Destiny|O. Henry
I found a pair of flea-bitten gray Flemish mares, weighing about twenty-eight hundred pounds.
The Fat of the Land|John Williams Streeter

A pick and fishing rod lay across the door sill and a lean, flea-bitten dog dozed at her feet.
The Black Pearl|Mrs. Wilson Woodrow

British Dictionary definitions for flea-bitten

flea-bitten

adjective

bitten by or infested with fleas

informal shabby or decrepit; mean

(of the coat of a horse) having reddish-brown spots on a lighter background

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