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Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

bug

/bʌɡ/

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What does bug mean?

noun

  1. An insect of the order Hemiptera (the “true bugs”).
  2. (informal) Any motile small terrestrial invertebrate, especially one that is seen as a pest.
  3. (informal) Any minibeast.
More meanings (33)

noun

  1. (informal) Any insect.
  2. (informal) Any of various species of marine (saltwater or freshwater) crustaceans; e.g. a Moreton Bay bug, mudbug.
  3. (informal, slang) A trilobite.
  4. (informal) A lobster.
  5. A problem that needs fixing.
  6. A contagious illness, or a pathogen causing it.
  7. (informal) An enthusiasm for something; an obsession.
  8. (informal) A keen enthusiast or hobbyist.
  9. A concealed electronic eavesdropping or intercept device
  10. A small and usually invisible file (traditionally a single-pixel image) on a World Wide Web page, primarily used to track users.
  11. A small, usually transparent or translucent image placed in a corner of a television program to identify the broadcasting network or cable channel.
  12. A manually positioned marker in flight instruments.
  13. A semi-automated telegraph key.
  14. HIV.
  15. A limited form of wild card in some variants of poker.
  16. (slang) An asterisk denoting an apprentice jockey's weight allowance.
  17. (slang) A young apprentice jockey.
  18. Synonym of union bug.
  19. (slang) A small piece of metal used in a slot machine to block certain winning combinations.
  20. (slang) A metal clip attached to the underside of a table, etc. to hold hidden cards, as a form of cheating.
  21. (slang) A Volkswagen Beetle car.
  22. (slang) A Bugatti car.
  23. (informal, obsolete) A bedbug.
  24. (obsolete) Hobgoblin, scarecrow; anything that terrifies.
  25. (dated, slang) Synonym of oil bug.

verb

  1. (informal) To annoy.
  2. (informal) To act suspiciously or irrationally, especially in a way that annoys others.
  3. To install an electronic listening device or devices in.
  4. To bulge or protrude.
  5. To represent (a value) using a bug on an instrument.

adjective

  1. Initialism of bisexual until graduation.

proper noun

  1. An East European river which flows northwest 450 miles through Belarus, Poland and Ukraine into the Baltic Sea. (Western Bug).
  2. A river in Ukraine (Southern Bug), flowing 530 miles to the Dnieper estuary.
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Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/bʌɡ/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

The best way to deal with the striped bug is to sit down by the hills, and patiently watch for him.
Charles Dudley WarnerThe Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner — Volume 1Project Gutenberg ebook #2671
The sand began to work, and presently a small black bug appeared for a second and then darted under again in a fright.
Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer, CompleteProject Gutenberg ebook #74
More book examples (3)
When the striped bug disappears, and the plants are four or five inches high, I thin out to four plants in the hill.
Edward Payson RoeThe Home AcreProject Gutenberg ebook #5418
Occasionally she laid down her work to straighten some flower which needed attention or to search the garden for a bug for the grosbeak.
Gene Stratton-PorterA Girl of the LimberlostProject Gutenberg ebook #125
This time the bug does not get there, and I enjoy grinding him under the sole of my Slum shoe when the prayer is ended.
William BoothIn Darkest England, and the Way OutProject Gutenberg ebook #475