wood louse
- any of certain small, terrestrial crustaceans of the genera Oniscus, Armadillidium, etc., having a flattened, elliptical body.
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Origin of wood louse
First recorded in 1605–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for wood louse
Historical Examples
Nobody that would not stoop to save a wood-louse in his path can claim to love.
Sylvia & MichaelCompton Mackenzie
"A man who lives like a wood-louse would be sure to look like that," he added.
Z. MarcasHonore de Balzac
Why not an earwig, or a black-beetle, or a wood-louse, or a centipede?
Finally they came across the wood-louse, whom they found mentioned in the letter as "maid-servant."
Italian Popular TalesThomas Frederick Crane
There was once a wood-louse, who, being dissatisfied with his position, called himself a Pterygobranchiate.
The HypocriteCyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull