louse

American  

[laus, laus, lauz] / laʊs, laʊs, laʊz /

noun

• lice,
  plural
• louses
  plural

1. 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 humanus body louse or Pediculus humanus capitis head louse and Phthirius pubis crab louse, or pubic louse.

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

3. plant louse.

4. Slang. a contemptible person, especially an unethical one.

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verb (used with object)

loused, lousing

1. to delouse.

verb phrase

1. louse up to spoil; botch.

   Miscasting loused up the movie.

louse British  

/ laʊs /

noun

1. 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 man

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

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

4. slang an unpleasant or mean person

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verb

1. to remove lice from

2. slang (foll by up) to ruin or spoil

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lice
  plural
• louses
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of louse

First recorded before 900; 1910–15 louse 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

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Explanation

A louse is a tiny insect that lives on the skin of animals and people. If you find a louse in your hair, you'll have to treat your scalp to get rid of any of its friends that might still be lurking there. Since they tend to travel in groups, the plural form of louse, lice, is much more common than the singular. Lice are small parasites that live on skin cells, blood, or other tiny bits of some host animal. If you're the host animal, you'll probably have an itchy head, and anyone who borrows your pillow or wears your hat will likely get lice too. A louse, informally, is also "an obnoxious person."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

louse lice louses loused lousing

This allowed them to identify traces of several pathogens, including Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague, and Borrelia recurrentis, which causes louse borne relapsing fever.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026

We get hints that Paul’s previous self was a louse, but Holland’s smile is so soft that it’s hard to believe he was ever a nasty, selfish jerk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2025

“We can see the louse DNA reflected in our own history.”

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 7, 2023

Only one animal parasite, the pygmy hog-sucking louse, is currently included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, and none are included on the U.S.

From Scientific American ● May 18, 2022

Haie has a particularly fine brand of louse: they have a red cross on their heads.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

While starving and battling lice, the young women distracted themselves by fantasizing about food.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

W. H. Auden once wrote of a miserable Roman soldier guarding a cold, rain-soaked wall in northern Europe, mentioning "lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose."

From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2025

Hundreds of parasites have the ability to infect humans, including lice, mites and ticks.

From Salon ● May 18, 2025

An initial assessment revealed that the whale was underweight and had an abnormal amount of whale lice, suggesting she was suffering from some illness or lack of adequate nutrition, he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025

The control of body lice in Naples was one of the earliest and most publicized achievements of DDT.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

In the album’s liner notes, the band offers “special thanks from these louses to our spouses for letting us make all this racket around the houses.”

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2022

In layman's terms, it's a hotel for bugs, the smallest of the small—wood louses, millipedes, and anything else that could find its way in.

From Golf Digest ● Oct. 16, 2013

Maybe all her friends are a bunch of louses and she should cut her losses and not invite them to the wedding.

From Slate ● Jan. 22, 2013

I understand his impulse: Banish the cad to Borneo along with all the other louses, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Edwards.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2011

The dozen white louses do become an old coat well; it agrees well, passant; it is a familiar beast to man, and signifies love.

From The Merry Wives of Windsor The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] by John Glover

No 404 notice, no “your internet connection is loused up” message — and especially, no Wordle.

From The Verge ● Feb. 16, 2022

If we hadn't got loused up we'd of had 50 percent.

From Time Magazine Archive

Despite his job problems, he is sticking with Carter "even though he loused up the economy."

From Time Magazine Archive

But she adds with pride: "Nobody ever got loused up in the Venice."

From Time Magazine Archive

He could hardly believe he had loused things up quite so badly.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

“I’m lousing up my moon picture,” Messuri said.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 15, 2019

“A couple of generations after I’m dead and gone,” he likes to say, “the Ph.D.’s will start lousing through my work. Just imagine their surprise. ‘

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 27, 2015

Silver, who is called only Silver, perhaps because no one respects him enough to use his full name, has gone through life lousing things up.

From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2012

Does she think he regrets lousing up their marriage?

From The Guardian ● Oct. 22, 2010

In Thrums the weavers spoke of "lousing" from their looms, removing the chains, and there is something woeful in that.

From A Window in Thrums by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie

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