definitions

kissing bug

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noun

Informal.
  1. a person much given to kissing.
  2. an irresistible desire to kiss or be kissed.
any of several assassin bugs that attack humans, sometimes inflicting painful bites.

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Nearby words

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

Origin of kissing bug

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples 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