straddle-bugn.
U.S.
1. A long-legged beetle, esp. Canthon lævis. Also attributive (similative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > member of (beetle) > long-legged
straddle-bug1839
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of (dung-beetle)
sharnbudc1000
dora1450
clock1568
sharn-bug1608
dung beetle1634
grey fly1638
dunghill beetle1658
comb-chafer1712
tumble-turd1754
tumble-dung1775
dung-chafer1805
tumble-bug1805
tumbler1807
bull-comber1813
straddle-bug1839
lamellicorn1842
scarabaeidan1842
shard-beetle1854
watchman1864
scarabaeoid1887
scarabaeid1891
minotaur1918
1839 H. W. Longfellow Hyperion I. i. vi. 58 There is one [sketch] on the wall there, which is beautiful, save and except that straddle-bug figure among the bushes.
1862 R. H. Newell Orpheus C. Kerr Papers I. 124 Now that I look at him, he reminds me of an old-fashioned straddle-bug.
2. colloquial. A politician who is non-committal or who equivocates; one who ‘straddles’ (sense 6).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [noun] > deliberate > exploiter of
Protean1598
equivocator1599
Janus face1654
straddle-bug1872
agnostic1885
society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > [noun] > non-party positions > person
independent1808
indifferentist1817
freelance1854
straddle-bug1872
maverick1880
mugwump1884
1872 Newton Kansan 5 Sept. 2/1 We think it well that the people..not see quite so much of the straddle-bug business carried on by a few.
1896 N.Y. Sun 13 May 1/3 McKinley isn't a gold-bug, McKinley isn't a silver bug, McKinley's a straddle-bug.
1939 Newsweek 21 Aug. 14/2 If we nominate conservative candidates, or lip-service candidates, on a straddlebug platform, I personally..will find it impossible to have any active part in such an unfortunate suicide of the old Democratic party.
1948 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 10 July 33/3 I will not support either a conservative or a straddlebug.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1839