bugs

Noun

bug (plural bugs)

1. An insect of the order Hemiptera (the “true bugs”).
   • Several pretty beetles, a superb "bug," and a few nice land-shells were obtained, and I returned in the afternoon well satisfied with my first trial of the promised land.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 199
2. (informal, proscribed) Any motile small terrestrial invertebrate, especially one that is seen as a pest.
   • Speaking of advertising changes of name, a title by which those lodging-house pests, bugs, are now often known, that of Norfolk Howards, is derived from an advertisement in which one Ephraim Bug avowed his intention of being for the future known as Norfolk Howard.1874, Henry Sampson, A history of advertising, page 278
3. (informal) Any minibeast.
   1. (informal) Any insect.
      • A: Eew, what is that thing?! Is that a bug?! B: No, it's a spider. And don't worry: she's not gonna hurt you.
   2. (informal) Any of various species of marine (saltwater or freshwater) crustaceans; e.g. a Moreton Bay bug, mudbug.
      • Bugs, oysters, prawns and crabs […] are plated up on the decks of four side-by-side trawlers bobbing on the calm waters of Trinity Inlet.2021 February, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 39, column 2
   3. (informal, slang) A trilobite.
      • We asked Harris if he had any recommendations about seeing the famous trilobite digs. He said we should just drive out to his claim in the Wheeler Quadrangle, and it was just fine with him if we dug a few bugs.2007, Kirk Johnson, Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway, page 174

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