stink bug
Americannoun
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stink bugs
plural
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any of numerous broad, flat bugs of the family Pentatomidae, that emit a disagreeable odor.
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any of various other malodorous bugs.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stink bug
An Americanism dating back to 1875–80
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.
I’ve never touched a gun nor smote anything larger than a stink bug.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
The growing wasps use the stink bug eggs for food.
From NewsForKids.net ● Apr. 15, 2024
Invasive species in the U.S. like hammerhead worms, spotted lanternflies, murder hornets, and the brown marmorated stink bug, are all from Asia.
From National Geographic ● Aug. 4, 2023
The parasitic wasp hunts for the egg masses of the stink bug and lays an egg inside each egg in the mass.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 10, 2022
The omnipresent enemies of all the cucurbitaceous crops are the little cucumber beetle and the large black "stink bug."
From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by L. H. (Liberty Hyde) Bailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
