lice

[ lahys ]

/ laɪs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lice ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

plural of louse.

Nearby words

libriform, librium, libya, libyan, libyan desert, lice, licence, license, license plate, licensed aircraft engineer, licensed practical nurse

Definition for lice (2 of 2)

louse

[ noun lous; verb lous, louz ]

/ noun laʊs; verb laʊs, laʊz /

noun, plural lice [lahys] /laɪs/ for 1–3, lous·es for 4.

any small, wingless insect of the order Anoplura (sucking louse), parasitic on humans and other mammals and having mouthparts adapted for sucking, as Pediculus humanus (body louse or head louse) and Phthirius pubis (crab louse or pubic louse).

any insect of the order Mallophaga (bird louse, biting louse, or chewing louse), parasitic on birds and mammals, having mouthparts adapted for biting.

plant louse.

Slang. a contemptible person, especially an unethical one.

verb (used with object), loused, lous·ing.

to delouse.

Verb Phrases

louse up, Slang. to spoil; botch: Miscasting loused up the movie.

Origin of louse

before 900; 1910–15 for def 4; Middle English lous(e), luse, plural lise, lice; Old English lūs, plural lȳs; cognate with Dutch luis, German Laus, Old Norse lūs

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

Examples from the Web for lice

All of us become covered in lice and insects, which became maddening.
A Syrian Soldier on Being Arrested for Refusing to Shoot Civilians|Andrew Slater|September 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Some of the images are very poignant, like the one of a boy searching for lice in his clothes.
Poland Observes 70th Anniversary of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising With Exhibit of 3D Photos|Justin Green|April 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
With most diseases spread by rodents, the mouse or rat or vole is only an intermediary (a “host”) for fleas and lice and the like.
Yosemite Hanta Virus: Nature Strikes Back|Kent Sepkowitz|September 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
If you have dead bodies, pestilence, lice, with a 90 temperature--mosquitoes, flies--then you have serious problems.
Haiti's Grisly Problem|Cyril Wecht|January 19, 2010|DAILY BEAST

The application should be repeated a week later to destroy all lice hatched from the nits in the interval.
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse|United States Department of Agriculture
Effect, all the lice dead ten hours later; the younger forms were dropping within an hour.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891|Various
This insect may be destroyed by the same remedies as are used for lice and for the human itch.
Our Common Insects|Alpheus Spring Packard
Every part of his clothing was gray with the lice that were hastening his death with their torments.
Andersonville, Volume 2|John McElroy
Leave them without food for a day and then give them some green plant-lice and watch them devour the lice.
An Elementary Study of Insects|Leonard Haseman

British Dictionary definitions for lice (1 of 2)

lice

/ (laɪs) /

noun

the plural of louse

British Dictionary definitions for lice (2 of 2)

louse

/ (laʊs) /

noun plural lice (laɪs)

any wingless bloodsucking insect of the order Anoplura: includes Pediculus capitis (head louse), Pediculus corporis (body louse), and the crab louse, all of which infest manRelated adjective: pedicular

biting louse or bird louse any wingless insect of the order Mallophaga, such as the chicken louse: external parasites of birds and mammals with biting mouthparts

any of various similar but unrelated insects, such as the plant louse and book louse

plural louses slang an unpleasant or mean person

verb (tr)

to remove lice from

(foll by up) slang to ruin or spoil

Word Origin for louse

Old English lūs; related to Old High German, Old Norse lūs

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

Medicine definitions for lice (1 of 2)

lice

[ līs ]

n.

Plural oflouse

Medicine definitions for lice (2 of 2)

louse

[ lous ]

n. pl. lice (līs)

Any of numerous small, flat-bodied, wingless biting or sucking insects of the orders Mallophaga or Anoplura, many of which are external parasites on humans.