true bug

noun

Origin of true bug

First recorded in 1890–95

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

true bug in Science

[trōō]

Any of various insects of the group Heteroptera. True bugs usually have soft flat bodies, well-developed antennae, and stink glands. They include the water bugs, water striders, bedbugs, cinch bugs, lace bugs, and assassin bugs. Some scientists classify the true bugs as a suborder of the order Hemiptera rather than as a separate insect order. See Note at bug.