plural bugs
1
a
: any of an order (Hemiptera and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects (such as an assassin bug or chinch bug) that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis and are often economic pests
called also true bug
b
: any of various small arthropods (such as a beetle or spider) resembling the true bugs
c
: any of several insects (such as a head louse) commonly considered obnoxious
2
: an unexpected defect, fault, flaw, or imperfection
The software was full of bugs.
3
a
: a microorganism (such as a bacterium or virus) especially when causing illness or disease
b
: an often unspecified or nonspecific sickness presumed to be caused by such a microorganism
a stomach bug
4
: a concealed listening device
5
: a sudden enthusiasm
6
: enthusiast
a camera bug
7
: a prominent person
8
informal + disparaging
: a mentally unsound person
9
[from its designation by an asterisk on race programs]
: a weight allowance given apprentice jockeys
bugged; bugging
2
: to plant a concealed microphone in
: to lose one's composure : freak
—often used with out
bugged; bugging
of the eyes
: to cause to bug
his eyes were bugged with horror
Synonyms
Examples of bug in a Sentence
Noun (1)
a camera bug who loves taking candid shots at fairs and festivals
I can't go to work today because I've caught some bug that's going around
a bug with a fascination for committing arson
Verb (1)
these incessant phone calls are really starting to bug me
I hate to bug you, but could you help me move this table?
Recent Examples on the Web
Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 3 May 2024
Apparently that last part really bugs the Lakers superstar.
—Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
Jonathan Karp, the publisher of Simon & Schuster, bugged me for years to write something.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 15 Feb. 2024
In recent days Tarkov players have found instances of armors being bugged and blocking too much or too little damage and no one really seems to be sure why.
—Mike Stubbs, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
His daily routine gets thrown some curveballs — a flaky coworker (Tokio Emoto) bugs him for quick cash to impress a hipster girlfriend (Aoi Yamada), an impromptu late-night beer with a terminally ill man (Masahiro Kômoto), the unexpected appearance of his niece (Arisa Nakano).
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2024
Above all, the thing that seems to be bugging people about Maestro is Cooper himself.
—Vulture, 3 Feb. 2024
If a person has neck pain that’s bugging them, they might be tempted to use a massage gun quite frequently, Neira explained.
—Julia Landwehr, Health, 26 Jan. 2024
A lot of my family and friends were bugging me about trying out for this role.
—EW.com, 17 Nov. 2023
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 8 May 2024
Edible bug enthusiasts are gearing up for the forage of a lifetime.
—Gabriela Riccardi, Quartz, 7 May 2024
When outside, avoid tall grass and use bug spray
Ticks tend to live in wooded areas with high grass and leaf litter, so public health officials recommend avoiding those areas.
—Elizabeth B. Kim, The Enquirer, 6 May 2024
With not many bugs crawling around Arizona in the winter months, the creatures begin to emerge from the desert terrain in the hot and sunny weather.
—Abigail Celaya, The Arizona Republic, 4 May 2024
Eliminate ants to control aphids, mealy bugs and scale.
—Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2024
Over 20,000 Amazon shoppers have bought this electric bug zapper in the past month, and it’s earned more than 10,000 perfect ratings.
—Emily Weaver, Peoplemag, 2 May 2024
But in all that mountain of rotting bug parts is a silver lining – experts say dead cicadas are a fantastic compost and mulch, contributing nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil.
—Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 24 May 2021
By Adrienne LaFrance Somewhere in the hills above Malibu, drenched in California sunshine and sitting side by side in a used white Volkswagen bug, two teenage boys realized they were lost.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 29 Apr. 2024
Verb
The whole thing start to finish has bugged me for a long time.
—Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 3 May 2024
Apparently that last part really bugs the Lakers superstar.
—Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
Jonathan Karp, the publisher of Simon & Schuster, bugged me for years to write something.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 15 Feb. 2024
In recent days Tarkov players have found instances of armors being bugged and blocking too much or too little damage and no one really seems to be sure why.
—Mike Stubbs, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
His daily routine gets thrown some curveballs — a flaky coworker (Tokio Emoto) bugs him for quick cash to impress a hipster girlfriend (Aoi Yamada), an impromptu late-night beer with a terminally ill man (Masahiro Kômoto), the unexpected appearance of his niece (Arisa Nakano).
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2024
Above all, the thing that seems to be bugging people about Maestro is Cooper himself.
—Vulture, 3 Feb. 2024
If a person has neck pain that’s bugging them, they might be tempted to use a massage gun quite frequently, Neira explained.
—Julia Landwehr, Health, 26 Jan. 2024
A lot of my family and friends were bugging me about trying out for this role.
—EW.com, 17 Nov. 2023
Noun
But overall, the smart home standard has come a long way in fulfilling its promise of providing a way for every smart device to work in your home locally over an interoperable communication protocol, even if the implementation still has some bugs to work out.
—Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 8 May 2024
Edible bug enthusiasts are gearing up for the forage of a lifetime.
—Gabriela Riccardi, Quartz, 7 May 2024
When outside, avoid tall grass and use bug spray
Ticks tend to live in wooded areas with high grass and leaf litter, so public health officials recommend avoiding those areas.
—Elizabeth B. Kim, The Enquirer, 6 May 2024
With not many bugs crawling around Arizona in the winter months, the creatures begin to emerge from the desert terrain in the hot and sunny weather.
—Abigail Celaya, The Arizona Republic, 4 May 2024
Eliminate ants to control aphids, mealy bugs and scale.
—Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2024
Over 20,000 Amazon shoppers have bought this electric bug zapper in the past month, and it’s earned more than 10,000 perfect ratings.
—Emily Weaver, Peoplemag, 2 May 2024
But in all that mountain of rotting bug parts is a silver lining – experts say dead cicadas are a fantastic compost and mulch, contributing nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil.
—Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 24 May 2021
By Adrienne LaFrance Somewhere in the hills above Malibu, drenched in California sunshine and sitting side by side in a used white Volkswagen bug, two teenage boys realized they were lost.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 29 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bug.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to bug
Dictionary Entries Near bug
Cite this Entry
“Bug.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bug. Accessed 17 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bug
1 of 2 noun1
a
: an insect (as a beetle) or other creeping or crawling invertebrate animal (as a centipede)
b
: any of an order of insects (as bedbugs and stinkbugs) that have sucking mouthparts and the forewings part leathery and part membranous and that undergo incomplete metamorphosis
called also true bug
2
: an unexpected mistake or imperfection
a bug in a computer program
3
: a disease-producing germ
also
: a disease caused by it
4
: fan entry 3, enthusiast
a camera bug
5
: a concealed listening device
bug
2 of 2 verb
bugged; bugging
1
: to place a concealed microphone in
3
: freak entry 3
—usually used with out
Medical Definition
bug
noun1
a
: an insect or other creeping or crawling invertebrate animal (as a spider)
—not used technically
b
: any of various insects (as the bedbug or cockroach) commonly considered obnoxious
c
: any of the order Hemiptera and especially of its suborder Heteroptera of insects that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and that lack a pupal stage between the immature stages and the adult
called also true bug
2
a
: a microorganism (such as a bacterium or virus) especially when causing illness or disease
Enterococcus faecium, an especially nasty bug, often shrugs off even vancomycin, a last-resort antibiotic.—Avery Comarow, U.S. News & World Report
Avery Comarow, U.S. News & World Report
b
: an often unspecified or nonspecific sickness presumed to be caused by such a microorganism
a stomach bug
suffering from the flu bug
Geographical Definition
Bug
geographical name
1
river over 450 miles (720 kilometers) long in central Europe rising in western Ukraine, forming part of Ukraine–Poland and Poland–Belarus borders, and flowing into the Vistula River in Poland
2
river over 500 miles (805 kilometers) long in southwestern Ukraine flowing southeast to the estuary of the Dnieper River
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