squash bug

American

noun

a dark-brown bug, Anasa tristis, that sucks the sap from the leaves of squash, pumpkin, and other plants of the gourd family.

squash bug British

noun

any of various heteropterous insects of the family Coreidae , esp a North American species, Anasa tristis , which is a pest of squash, pumpkin, and related plants

"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

Etymology

Origin of squash bug

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

squash bug

The squash bug lives thru the winter as the matured winged insect.

From An Elementary Study of Insects by Leonard Haseman

The squash bug feeds largely on squash and pumpkins.

From An Elementary Study of Insects by Leonard Haseman

The squash bug may be destroyed by hand.

From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Ellen Eddy Shaw

Now it has been found, for example in the case of the common squash bug, anasa tristis, that there are 22 chromosomes in the female, and 21 in the male.

From The Glands Regulating Personality by Louis Berman M.D.

The squash bug may be told by its brown body, which is long and slender, and by the disagreeable odour from it when killed.

From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Ellen Eddy Shaw

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023