woodlouse
/ˈwʊdˌlaʊs/
woodlouse noun: any of various small terrestrial isopod crustaceans of suborder Oniscidea, having a rigid segmented exoskeleton, usually feeding on dead plant matter and living in damp, dark places, such as under stones or bark. Several common species roll into a ball when disturbed, hence names such as pill bug and roly-poly.
Noun
woodlouse (plural woodlice)
- Any of various small terrestrial isopod crustaceans of suborder Oniscidea, having a rigid segmented exoskeleton, usually feeding on dead plant matter and living in damp, dark places, such as under stones or bark. Several common species roll into a ball when disturbed, hence names such as pill bug and roly-poly.
- In addition, both the woodlouse and the crayfish possess an unpaired medial nerve which runs along the whole length of the ventral nerve cord, linking adjacent ganglia.1995, Olaf Breidbach, Wolfram Kutsch, editors, The Nervous Systems of Invertebrates: An Evolutionary and Comparative Approach, page 193
- Woodlice commonly produce offspring 1–3 times per year, with spring and autumn broods most common. Woodlice often survive for longer than a year, with longevity of 2–5 years not uncommon.2001, John L. Capinera, editor, Handbook of Vegetable Pests, page 566
- Synonyms:
- armadillo bug, butcher boy, cheese-bug, cheesybug, cheeselog, chiggypig, chucky pig, doodlebug, grammersow, lobster lug
woodlouse meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Arabic
woodlouse in Hindi
- small land crustacean of suborder Oniscidea
- दीमक dīmak, काष्ठ यूका kāṣṭh yūkā
woodlouse in Tamil
- ஆயிரக்குண்டலி
woodlouse in Telugu
- small land crustacean of suborder Oniscidea
- నామవాచకం nāmavācakaṁ
woodlouse in Arabic
- small land crustacean of suborder Oniscidea
- قَمْل الخَشَب qaml al-ḵašab
More languagesFewer languages
- woodlouse in Indonesian
- kutu kayu
- woodlouse in Persian
- خر خاکی xar-xâki
- woodlouse in Vietnamese
- bọ đất, mọt ẩm
- woodlouse in Myanmar
- ပိုးလုံးကောင် pui:lum:kaung
Synonyms of woodlouse
- armadillo bug
- butcher boy
- cheese-bug
- cheesybug
- cheeselog
- chiggypig
- chucky pig
- doodlebug
- grammersow
- lobster lug
10 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- monkey pea
- pill bug
- rolly polly
- roly-poly
- roly poly
- sowbug
- sowpig
- slater
- oniscid
- oniscidean
Forms of woodlouse
| plural | woodlice |
|---|
Origin of woodlouse
From wood + louse.
Words formed from woodlouse
Phrases with woodlouse
Questions about woodlouse
- What does woodlouse mean?
- Woodlouse means any of various small terrestrial isopod crustaceans of suborder Oniscidea, having a rigid segmented exoskeleton, usually feeding on dead plant matter and living in damp, dark places, such as under stones or bark. Several common species roll into a ball when disturbed, hence names such as pill bug and roly-poly.
- What is woodlouse in Hindi?
- Woodlouse in Hindi is दीमक (dīmak), काष्ठ यूका (kāṣṭh yūkā). See Woodlouse meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is woodlouse?
- Woodlouse is a noun.
- How do you pronounce woodlouse?
- Woodlouse is pronounced /ˈwʊdˌlaʊs/.
- What is the plural of woodlouse?
- The plural of woodlouse is woodlice.
Words near woodlouse in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: woodlouse (page history and authors); woodlouse (Tamil Wiktionary) (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)-Vealhurl-woodlouse.wav.
Cite this entry: “woodlouse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/woodlouse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.