Definition of earwig in English:
earwig
A small elongated insect with a pair of terminal appendages that resemble pincers.
Order Dermaptera: several families
- These stories have little basis in fact, although earwigs have been known to cause a mildly painful bite when sat upon or handled.
- The earwigs will hide in these and every morning if you tip out the contents you'll get not alone the hay filling but quite a number of insects as well.
- Even earwigs can be useful because they eat aphids, codling moth eggs and the red spider mite.
- Rising late in the morning to tents mysteriously full of earwigs we set off for a look.
- He published papers illustrating discontinuous variation in floral symmetry and in terminal forceps of earwigs and the hornlike processes seen in certain male beetles.
1Secretly listen to a conversation.
he looked behind him to see if anyone was earwigging- In the above situation it is quite appropriate to look the other way whilst earwigging and they will pretend you can't hear their conversation.
- Like most writers, Dewar is a good listener, earwigging on other's conversations.
- He's looking a little distracted, as he's trying to earwig on the Edge's conversation.
- Our venue is on Charlotte Street, where the tables are placed close enough for you to earwig on each other's ideas for another makeover series.
- Earwigging on the crew, we heard nothing but praise.
- Quite often when we chat about not-specifically-work-things, Jim earwigs and contributes.
- After the conference speeches are over, I drift around the hotel bars earwigging on conversations.
- In one corner was a hefty table of corporate lawyers (no interesting earwigging there); in another sat the insurance posse; over to my left were the corporate finance crew.
- Random people preceding me were confronting various BBC folk and questioning them, and I dutifully earwigged.
- They went on about benefits, making ends meet and why New Labour is so out of touch with the plight of those on the dole as I nodded surreptitiously into my pint, earwigging all the while.
- They finally got her into the office, so I started earwigging outside. ‘Look, if you promise not to come into the store again nicking, we'll let you go.’
- A malfunction is being blamed for some callers being able to listen in to other people's calls - and presumably, other people earwigging into their conversations.
- I earwigged into a conversation with her last season and she told me what a beautiful horse it was.
- 1.1archaic with object Influence (someone) by secret means.he was so sure to be earwigged in private that what he heard or said openly went for little
Origin
Old English ēarwicga, from ēare 'ear' + wicga 'earwig' (probably related to wiggle); the insect was once thought to crawl into the human ear.
Earwigs have nothing to do with wigs. The -wig bit is related to wiggle, which makes a lot more sense. It was once thought that the insect crawled into people's ears, and the same idea is found in other languages: in French an earwig is a perce-oreilles, literally ‘ear-piercer’, and in German it is Ohrwurm, or ‘ear worm’. The Germans also used Ohrwurm as a term for those irritating snatches of music that go round and round in your head, and ear worm has been used in this sense in English since the 1980s. These tunes are also called sticky tunes in English, or a cognitive itch, while the Brazilians call them chiclete de ouvido or ear chewing gum.
Definition of earwig in US English:
earwig
A small elongated insect with a pair of terminal appendages that resemble pincers. The females typically care for their eggs and young until they are grown.
Order Dermaptera: several families
- He published papers illustrating discontinuous variation in floral symmetry and in terminal forceps of earwigs and the hornlike processes seen in certain male beetles.
- Even earwigs can be useful because they eat aphids, codling moth eggs and the red spider mite.
- Rising late in the morning to tents mysteriously full of earwigs we set off for a look.
- The earwigs will hide in these and every morning if you tip out the contents you'll get not alone the hay filling but quite a number of insects as well.
- These stories have little basis in fact, although earwigs have been known to cause a mildly painful bite when sat upon or handled.
1Secretly listen to a conversation.
he looked behind him to see if anyone was earwigging- In the above situation it is quite appropriate to look the other way whilst earwigging and they will pretend you can't hear their conversation.
- I earwigged into a conversation with her last season and she told me what a beautiful horse it was.
- Our venue is on Charlotte Street, where the tables are placed close enough for you to earwig on each other's ideas for another makeover series.
- Quite often when we chat about not-specifically-work-things, Jim earwigs and contributes.
- They finally got her into the office, so I started earwigging outside. ‘Look, if you promise not to come into the store again nicking, we'll let you go.’
- In one corner was a hefty table of corporate lawyers (no interesting earwigging there); in another sat the insurance posse; over to my left were the corporate finance crew.
- He's looking a little distracted, as he's trying to earwig on the Edge's conversation.
- A malfunction is being blamed for some callers being able to listen in to other people's calls - and presumably, other people earwigging into their conversations.
- After the conference speeches are over, I drift around the hotel bars earwigging on conversations.
- Random people preceding me were confronting various BBC folk and questioning them, and I dutifully earwigged.
- Like most writers, Dewar is a good listener, earwigging on other's conversations.
- Earwigging on the crew, we heard nothing but praise.
- They went on about benefits, making ends meet and why New Labour is so out of touch with the plight of those on the dole as I nodded surreptitiously into my pint, earwigging all the while.
- 1.1archaic with object Influence (someone) by secret means.
Origin
Old English ēarwicga, from ēare ‘ear’ + wicga ‘earwig’ (probably related to wiggle); the insect was once thought to crawl into the human ear.