/laʊs/
OriginFrom Middle English lous, lows, lowse, from Old English lūs, from Proto-West Germanic *lūs, from Proto-Germanic *lūs, from Proto-Indo-European *lewH-.
See also West Frisian lûs, Dutch luis, German Low German Luus, German Laus; also Welsh llau (“lice”), Tocharian B luwo, maybe Sanskrit यूका (yūkā).
- A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea.
- colloquial, datedA contemptible person; one who is deceitful or causes harm.
“He said: "Thanks, friend; but you're wasting your time. You better warn Crocker. If that louse makes a play for me, he'll get hit with Chicago lightning!"”
“It's then that those louses go back to their spouses. Diamonds are a girl's best friend.”
“[…] as she raised her guitar for the last loud chord, an unseen louse let loose a rubber-tipped arrow that landed right on her dark-skinned forehead.”
- To remove lice from; to delouse.
“There were a few wire-netted enclosures to keep young chickens from the hawks, but the fowls wandered at large, coming about the hut to ruffle their feathers in the dust, and louse themselves, and pic”
Formslice(plural) · louses(nonstandard, plural) · louses(present, singular, third-person) · lousing(participle, present) · loused(participle, past) · loused(past)