doodlebugn.
colloquial.
1.
a. U.S. A tiger-beetle, or the larva of this or various other insects.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Adephaga (carnivorous beetles) > Geadephaga (terrestrial) > family Carabidae > member of subfamily Cicindelidae
tiger-beetle1826
scale-beetle1855
sparkler1860
doodlebugc1866
cicindelid1914
c1866 G. W. Bagby Old Virginia Gentleman (1910) 48 Try to tame a catbird, call doodle-bugs out of their holes.
1876 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Tom Sawyer viii. 82 Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know!
1903 S. E. White Forest vii. 81 I never hesitate to offer them [sc. trout] any kind of a doodle-bug they may fancy.
1944 Democrat 7 Dec. 2/2 Doodlebugs are those little insects which fan out or blow out little conical shaped holes in sandy or dusty places.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1908 C. E. Mulford Orphan 163 You blamed doodle bug, yu!
1918 C. E. Mulford Man from Bar-20 xviii. 193 ‘Yo're a fine pair of doodle-bugs’... ‘Don't you know an opportunity when you see one?’
1938 ‘E. Queen’ Four of Hearts (1939) i. iii. 34 She'll tell you more about these doodlebugs than they know themselves.
2. A nickname applied to the German pilotless plane or flying bomb of the war of 1939–45.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > pilotless or remotely controlled
drone1936
doodlebug1944
flying bomb1944
V-11944
beeper1946
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > explosive device > [noun] > bomb > flying
rocket bomb1883
chase me, Charley1906
robot plane1929
robot bomb1934
robot1940
buzz-bomb1944
doodlebug1944
flying bomb1944
robomb1944
V-bomb1944
V-11944
V-21944
1944 Times 22 June 2/1 The first fighter pilot to shoot down what the R.A.F. men call a ‘doodlebug’ was Flight Sergeant Maurice Rose, of Glasgow.
1944 Aeronautics Aug. 27/1 The most elaborate German automatic weapon, the flying bomb,..doodle-bug, or power-bomb.
1944 Notes & Queries 9 Sept. 122/1 The doodle-bug.— The new weapon with which our enemy has attacked us has borne a number of names since its appearance over Southern England on 13 June... The public in London has now generally accepted doodle bug, doodle bomb or simply doodle.
1969 T. Parker Twisting Lane 79 I left school in 1944, just after the doodle-bugs finished.
Draft additions 1993
A divining rod or other device supposed by prospectors to indicate the presence of oil, minerals, etc.; also transferred, a seismograph. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > instrument for detection > [noun] > divining rod
divining-wand1656
dowsing-rod1692
divining-stick1712
divining-rod1751
mineral rod1797
doodlebug1924
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > [noun] > types of search or searching > searching for subterraneous water or minerals > instrument used in
divining-wand1656
dowsing-rod1692
divining-stick1712
divining-rod1751
witching stick1864
twig1883
witching rod1919
doodlebug1924
witching wand2011
1924 G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom xiii. 157 One old fraud who was tried in the Federal court had a ‘chemical battery’ or ‘doodlebug’ oil location [sic], which he said would spot oil-producing ground at once.
1934 M. H. Weseen Dict. Amer. Slang v. 89 Doodle bug, a divining rod used in oil fields; a fake instrument used to find oil pools.
1940 J. H. Plenn Saddle in Sky i. viii. 119 The most familiar names for their divining rods were doodlebugs and wigglesticks.
1951 K. Roberts Henry Gross & his Dowsing Rod viii. 90 For years, like all engineers, I coupled a forked stick with the ‘doodle bugs’ which supposedly locate ore and treasure.
1979 Oil & Gas Jrnl. 16 July 17/2 Deputy Secretary O'Leary..is en route to Zurich to demonstrate a doodlebug that can find oil, gold, and mummies—and goes so far into the earth it has detected the Gang of Four at 8,000 miles.
1985 Oil & Gas Jrnl. 29 Apr. 54/1 But that's no reason to equate the pocket calculators of energy forecasters with the witching sticks and doodlebugs of the past.
Draft additions 1993
A prospector for oil, minerals, etc.; also transferred, a geophysicist or other scientist employed by an oil company. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > worker in oil industry > [noun] > types of
scout1883
roustabout1886
pipeliner1887
tongsman1891
tool-dresser1896
fisherman1903
roughneck1913
stabber1922
toolie1932
tool-pusher1932
doodlebug1933
rigger1974
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > worker in oil industry > [noun] > prospector
wild-catter1883
doodlebug1933
doodlebugger1944
1933 E. Caldwell God's Little Acre x. 149 ‘Sure, I'm leaving,’ Will said. ‘I can't be wasting my time digging holes in the ground. I'm no damn doodle-bug.’
1966 G. E. Sweet Hist. Geophysical Prospecting (1978) I. xvi. 53 The doodlebug has more faith in oil revealing its whereabouts by means of some quality of the oil itself.
1982 Fortune 25 Jan. 95/1 The geophones..transmit the impulses along the cable to a recording truck—the doghouse, in doodlebug parlance.
Draft additions 1993
A midget racing car. Hence transferred, any small vehicle: spec. (a) Railways a ‘New Style’ or similar locomotive; (b) Military a reconnaissance car or tank; (c) a tractor or truck modified to increase its performance. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > motor vehicle > small
go-cart1915
doodlebug1937
1937 Lea Bridge Speedway Programme 18 Aug. 14 A Doodle Bug doodled its way around the track one day last week... Occupant of the car was none other than..Fay Taylour... Fay wants to drive midgets.
1940 Collier's 29 June 11/1 I mean midget autos. Doodlebugs.
1941 Amer. Speech 16 165/1 Doodle bug, reconnaissance car, or tank.
1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 22 Doodlebug, subway train.
1966 K. Möller Amer. & Brit. Railway English (typescript, Stockholm Univ.) 45 Doodlebug is an amusing notation for a type of self-propelled car (now practically obsolete) which is capable of hauling a few other cars.—This nickname must have emanated from the striped doodlebug larva; the front end of these cars was often painted with broad diagonal stripes to make them clearly visible. (Doodlebug is found also in B[ritish] E[nglish], denoting any new style locomotive.)
1980 N.Y. Times 23 Aug. i. 11/5 The ‘doodlebug’, a small monoplane for private pilots, was his [sc. James S. McDonnell Jr.'s] first major creation.
1984 Christian Sci. Monitor 13 Apr. 30/2 It was a one-horse job with a four-foot cutter bar, and we had shortened the ‘sharves’ so we could attach it to our doodlebug tractor.
Draft additions 1993
ˈdoodlebugger n. a prospector; also, an oil geophysicist or seismographer.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > worker in oil industry > [noun] > prospector
wild-catter1883
doodlebug1933
doodlebugger1944
1944 Calif. Folklore Q. III. 55 In east Texas near the town of Linden a doodlebugger had located an oil field ‘that would make Spindle Top look like a rainbow on a slush pile,’ as he described it.
1982 Fortune 25 Jan. 96/2 The doodlebugger's ambition is to reproduce seismic pictures with the fine detail of a coffee-table book of glossy photographs.
ˈdoodlebugging n. prospecting, esp. for oil. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > drilling for oil or gas > [noun] > prospecting for oil or gas
reflection shooting1929
refraction profiling1929
refraction shooting1929
seismics1934
reflection profiling1938
doodlebugging1939
Vibroseis1961
1939 Sat. Evening Post 7 Jan. 18/3 Before Western spends a hundred thousand sinking a test hole, we're supposed to show them where to drill and why! That's doodlebugging!
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
<
n.c1866