kissing bug

noun

Informal.

a person much given to kissing.
an irresistible desire to kiss or be kissed.

any of several assassin bugs that attack humans, sometimes inflicting painful bites.

QUIZZES

Can You Remember Your Favorite Words Of The Day From March?

Even if you’re a habitué of Word of the Day, you haven’t seen our March words in these ways! Challenge yourself to our comprehensive quiz!

Question 1 of 15

What does "habitué" mean?

a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste.

a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.

a lazy person who stays in bed long after the usual time for arising.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of kissing bug

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Words nearby kissing bug

kissagram, kissel, kisser, kissimmee, kissing bridge, kissing bug, kissing cousin, kissing cousins, kissing disease, kissing gate, kissing gourami

Example sentences from the Web for kissing bug

As the story went West, bites by Conorhinus sanguisuga and Rasatus thoracicus were without doubt termed "kissing-bug" bites.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, November 1899|Various
Their bites and blood-sucking habits gave cause to the "kissing-bug" scare to which the newspapers gave great publicity.
Great Hike|Alan Douglas
An interesting psychological study was afforded in the summer of 1899, by the "kissing-bug" scare which swept over the country.
Handbook of Medical Entomology|William Albert Riley

British Dictionary definitions for kissing bug

kissing bug

noun

a North American assassin bug, Melanolestes picipes, with a painful bite, usually attacking the lips or cheeks of man

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