bug
1
[ buhg ]
/ bʌg /
noun
verb (used with object), bugged, bug·ging. Informal.
to install a secret listening device in (a room, building, etc.) or on (a telephone or other device): The phone had been bugged.
to bother; annoy; pester: She's bugging him to get her into show business.
Verb Phrases
bug off, Slang.
to leave or depart, especially rapidly: I can't help you, so bug off.
bug out, Slang.
to flee in panic; show panic or alarm.
Idioms for bug
put a bug in someone's ear,
to give someone a subtle suggestion; hint: We put a bug in his ear about a new gymnasium.
Origin of bug
1
1615–25; 1885–90
for def 4; 1910–15
for def 5a; 1915–20
for def 14; 1945–50
for def 15; earlier
bugge beetle, apparently alteration of Middle English
budde, Old English
-budda beetle; sense “leave” obscurely related to other senses and perhaps of distinct orig.
OTHER WORDS FROM bug
un·bugged, adjectiveWords nearby bug
buffy,
buffy coat,
bufotalin,
bufotenine,
bufotoxin,
bug,
bug light,
bug off,
bug out,
bug-eyed,
bug-juice
British Dictionary definitions for put a bug in someone's ear (1 of 4)
bug
1
/ (bʌɡ) /
noun
verb bugs, bugging or bugged informal
See also
bug out
Word Origin for bug
C16: of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old English
budda beetle
British Dictionary definitions for put a bug in someone's ear (2 of 4)
bug
2
/ (bʌɡ) /
noun
obsolete
an evil spirit or spectre; hobgoblin
Word Origin for bug
C14
bugge, perhaps from Middle Welsh
bwg ghost. See also
bugbear,
bugaboo
British Dictionary definitions for put a bug in someone's ear (3 of 4)
British Dictionary definitions for put a bug in someone's ear (4 of 4)
Bug
/ (Russian buk) /
noun
Also called: Southern Bug
a river in E Europe, rising in W Ukraine and flowing southeast to the Dnieper estuary and the Black Sea. Length: 853 km (530 miles)
Also called: Western Bug
a river in E Europe, rising in SW Ukraine and flowing northwest to the River Vistula in Poland, forming part of the border between Poland and Ukraine. Length: 724 km (450 miles)
Medical definitions for put a bug in someone's ear
bug
[ bŭg ]
n.
A true bug, specifically one having a beaklike structure that allows piercing and sucking.
An insect or similar organism, such as a centipede or an earwig.
A disease-producing microorganism, such as a flu bug.
The illness or disease so produced.
A defect or difficulty, as in a system or design.
Scientific definitions for put a bug in someone's ear
bug
[ bŭg ]
An insect belonging to the suborder Heteroptera. See more at true bug.
An insect, spider, or similar organism. Not in scientific use.
Usage
The word bug is often used to refer to tiny creatures that crawl along, such as insects and even small animals that are not insects, such as spiders and millipedes. But for scientists the word has a much narrower meaning. In the strictest terms bugs are those insects that have mouthparts adapted for piercing and sucking. The mouthparts of these bugs are contained in a beak-shaped structure. Thus scientists would classify a louse but not a beetle or a cockroach as a bug. In fact, scientists often call lice and their relatives true bugs to distinguish them better from what everyone else calls bugs.
Cultural definitions for put a bug in someone's ear
bug
A generic term that describes a malfunction of undetermined origin in a computer or other electronic device.
notes for bug
The term originated in the 1940s when the examination of a large computer revealed that an actual insect had landed on one of the circuits, shorting it out and shutting the machine down.
Idioms and Phrases with put a bug in someone's ear (1 of 2)
put a bug in someone's ear
Give someone a hint about something, as in Janet put a bug in her husband's ear about getting the children a dog for Christmas. This idiom presumably likens the buzzing about of an insect to a hint, although the exact analogy is not clear. [c. 1900]
Idioms and Phrases with put a bug in someone's ear (2 of 2)
bug