louse

noun

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\ ˈlau̇s

Definition of louse

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 plural lice\ ˈlīs

a : any of various small wingless usually flattened insects (orders Anoplura and Mallophaga) parasitic on warm-blooded animals

b : a small usually sluggish arthropod (such as a biting louse) that lives on other animals or on plants and sucks their blood or juices

c : any of several small arthropods (such as a book louse) that are not parasitic

2 plural louses\ ˈlau̇-səz

\ : a contemptible person : heel what a beast, what a cad, what a louse he had been— Walter Karig

louse

verb

\ ˈlau̇s

, ˈlau̇z

loused; lousing

Definition of louse (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to remove lice from

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About louse

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Synonyms for louse

Synonyms: Noun

bastard,
beast,
bleeder
[British],
blighter
[chiefly British],
boor,
bounder,
bugger,
buzzard,
cad,
chuff,
churl,
clown,
creep,
cretin,
crud
[slang],
crumb
[slang],
cur,
dirtbag
[slang],
dog,
fink,
heel,
hound,
jerk,
joker,
lout,
pill,
rat,
rat fink,
reptile,
rotter,
schmuck
[slang],
scum,
scumbag
[slang],
scuzzball
[slang],
skunk,
sleaze,
sleazebag
[slang],
sleazeball
[slang],
slime,
slimeball
[slang],
slob,
snake,
so-and-so,
sod
[chiefly British],
stinkard,
stinker,
swine,
toad,
varmint,
vermin

Examples of louse in a Sentence

Noun a problem with head lice Her ex-husband is a real louse.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The fatal grape louse phylloxera was slowly overtaking the plants. — Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 June 2021 Here, too, are a warmth and a curiosity for even the most minor of characters (except that louse of a boyfriend) and a faith in the lessons that a pliant, earnest — and, honestly, not terribly interesting — young person might accrue over time. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Mar. 2021 An adult louse can be light brown or grey, is two-three millimeters long, and has a lifespan of about 30 days. — Kaitlyn Pirie, Good Housekeeping, 27 Aug. 2020 But unlike other, more popular rootstocks, St. George later turned out to be resistant to phylloxera, the grapevine louse that wiped out much of California’s wine grape acreage in a 1980s epidemic. — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 10 Nov. 2020 The starvation made fighting any disease that did emerge near impossible, and louse vectors spread easily due to a lack of adequate sanitation and an abundance of hosts. — Courtney Sexton, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 July 2020 Virtually all vines of that era were killed by phylloxera, a grape louse that spread in the 1980s, but Volker Eisele’s were among the rare plants that had been grafted onto phylloxera-resistant St. George rootstock. — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 4 Sep. 2020 Running a fine tooth louse comb through natural Black hair without protecting the hair itself can cause a lot of frustrating breakage. — Kaitlyn Pirie, Good Housekeeping, 27 Aug. 2020 The poor fish’s tongue withers into a useless nub, leaving the mouth vacant for the louse itself to physically take its place, helping its host move food around its mouth and grind big morsels down to size. — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Will Ferrell figure out a way to get along, their fathers (Mel Gibson, John Lithgow) show up for the holidays to louse everything up in this comedy sequel. — Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'louse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.