Antonyms for bug
| Grammar : Noun, verb |
| Spell : buhg |
| Phonetic Transcription : bʌg |
Definition of bug
Origin :- "insect," 1620s (earliest reference is to bedbugs), of unknown origin, probably but not certainly from or influenced by Middle English bugge "something frightening, scarecrow" (late 14c.), a meaning obsolete since the "insect" sense arose except in bugbear (1570s) and bugaboo (q.v.).
- Probably connected with Scottish bogill "goblin, bugbear," or obsolete Welsh bwg "ghost, goblin" (cf. Welsh bwgwl "threat," earlier "fear," Middle Irish bocanách "supernatural being"). Some speculate that these words are from a root meaning "goat" (see buck (n.1)) and represent originally a goat-like spectre. Cf. also bogey (n.1) and German bögge, böggel-mann "goblin." Perhaps influenced in meaning by Old English -budda used in compounds for "beetle" (cf. Low German budde "louse, grub," Middle Low German buddech "thick, swollen").
- In the United States bug is not confined, as in England, to the domestic pest, but is applied to all insects of the Coleoptera order, which includes what in this country are generally called beetles. [Farmer & Henley, "Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English," 1912 abridged edition]
- Meaning "defect in a machine" (1889) may have been coined c.1878 by Thomas Edison (perhaps with the notion of an insect getting into the works). Meaning "person obsessed by an idea" (e.g. firebug) is from 1841, perhaps from notion of persistence. Sense of "microbe, germ" is from 1919. Bugs "crazy" is from c.1900. Bug juice as a slang name for drink is from 1869, originally "bad whiskey." The 1811 slang dictionary has bug-hunter "an upholsterer." Bug-word "word or words meant to irritate and vex" is from 1560s.
- noun bacterium, microorganism
- noun insect
- noun obsession
- noun computer glitch
- verb bother, disturb
- verb listen to without permission
- He felt as if he were a June bug buzzing helplessly at the end of a string.
- Extract from : « The Cruise of the Dry Dock » by T. S. Stribling
- That girl with the dark eyes might not have looked at me as if I were a worm or a June bug.
- Extract from : « The Rise of Roscoe Paine » by Joseph C. Lincoln
- He gives it out that he's goin' to prance over to Red Dog an' lay for the Bug.
- Extract from : « Faro Nell and Her Friends » by Alfred Henry Lewis
- “Guess you gone plumb ‘bug,’ Bill,” he said, with an amiable grin.
- Extract from : « The Twins of Suffering Creek » by Ridgwell Cullum
- I hide the box of bug powder when I hear two other creeps come running.
- Extract from : « Operation Earthworm » by Joe Archibald
- As the "bug" light caught her face, Roger saw that it was Charley.
- Extract from : « The Forbidden Trail » by Honor Willsie
- Roger did the milking and the other chores, by the light of a "bug."
- Extract from : « The Forbidden Trail » by Honor Willsie
- The Spider came, and there he found a cricket, a beetle, and a bug.
- Extract from : « Russian Fairy Tales » by W. R. S. Ralston
- What bug in the new helium process might account for this delay?
- Extract from : « Bread Overhead » by Fritz Reuter Leiber
- Experimentally, he waved to the massed ranks of bug things as he passed them.
- Extract from : « The Worshippers » by Damon Francis Knight
Synonyms for bug
- abrade
- annoy
- ant
- bacillus
- badger
- beetle
- breakdown
- chafe
- computer malfunction
- cootie
- craze
- defect
- disease
- eavesdrop
- enthusiasm
- error
- fad
- failure
- fault
- flaw
- flea
- gall
- germ
- get on someone
- gnat
- harass
- hitch
- infection
- irk
- irritate
- listen in
- louse
- mania
- microbe
- needle
- nettle
- overhear
- pest
- pester
- plague
- problem
- provoke
- rage
- something wrong
- spy
- tap
- trouble
- vermin
- vex
- virus
- wiretap
- zeal
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019