Word.ws English Dictionary

doodlebug

Syllables: doo·dle·bug/ˈduːdl̩ˌbʌɡ/

doodlebug noun: the V-1 flying bomb.

doodlebug: the V-1 flying bomb
Image: Jonathan3784 (Jonathan Numer), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

doodlebug (plural doodlebugs)

  1. (UK, informal) The V-1 flying bomb.
    • Soon after Richard was adopted, Orwell's flat was wrecked by a doodlebug.2009, Robert McCrum, The masterpiece that killed George Orwell
  2. (historical, "doodlebug tractor") An automobile converted into a cheap tractor for a small farm during the Second World War.
  3. An antlion larva (Myrmeleontidae).
  4. (UK) A cockchafer (genus Melolontha).
  5. (regional) A woodlouse.
    • Common names for woodlice vary throughout the English-speaking world. They include roly-poly, pill bug (usually applied only to the genus Armadillidium), sow bug, doodle bug, carpenter (Newfoundland),[…] cheesybug (Kent), and cheeselog.2018 June 25, “Pillbugs”, in Niles Biological, Inc., archived from the original on 21 Dec 2018
  6. (informal) A term of endearment.
  7. (informal) A slackard or time-waster.
  8. (informal) An idiot.
  9. (informal) Someone who draws constantly.
  10. (informal) A divining rod or similarly intended device.
  11. (obsolete) Individual self-propelled train cars.

Forms of doodlebug

pluraldoodlebugs

Origin of doodlebug

From doodle + bug.

Words formed from doodlebug

Questions about doodlebug

What does doodlebug mean?
Doodlebug means the V-1 flying bomb.
What part of speech is doodlebug?
Doodlebug is a noun.
How do you pronounce doodlebug?
Doodlebug is pronounced /ˈduːdl̩ˌbʌɡ/.
What is the plural of doodlebug?
The plural of doodlebug is doodlebugs.

Words near doodlebug in the dictionary

  1. doodle
  2. doodle-bug
  3. doodle-bugs
  4. doodlebrain
  5. doodlebrains
  6. doodlebug
  7. doodlebugger
  8. doodlebuggers
  9. doodlebugging
  10. doodlebugs
  11. doodled

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: doodlebug (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-doodlebug.wav.

Cite this entry: “doodlebug.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/doodlebug. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.