Word.ws English Dictionary

Norfolk Howard

Norfolk Howard noun: a bedbug.

Noun

Norfolk Howard (plural Norfolk Howards)

  1. (UK, obsolete, slang) A bedbug.
    • All the insects he had sorted, / Placed in paper bags the insects, / In one bag the Norfolk Howards, / In one bag the fleas, the Jumpers […]1888, James Arthur Lees, Walter J. Clutterbuck, B.C. 1887: A Ramble in British Columbia, page 244
    • 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

Forms of Norfolk Howard

pluralNorfolk Howards

Origin of Norfolk Howard

Said to be an allusion to a person named Ephraim Bug, who advertised that in the future he would call himself by the more aristocratic name of Norfolk Howard.

Questions about Norfolk Howard

What does Norfolk Howard mean?
Norfolk Howard means a bedbug.
What part of speech is Norfolk Howard?
Norfolk Howard is a noun.
What is the plural of Norfolk Howard?
The plural of Norfolk Howard is Norfolk Howards.

Words near Norfolk Howard in the dictionary

  1. Norfolk Black
  2. Norfolk County
  3. Norfolk crop rotation
  4. Norfolk dumpling
  5. Norfolk dumplings
  6. Norfolk Howard
  7. Norfolk Howards
  8. Norfolk Island
  9. Norfolk Island pine
  10. Norfolk Island pines
  11. Norfolk Island star pine

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Norfolk Howard (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.

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