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wood louse
noun
: a terrestrial isopod crustacean (suborder Oniscoidea) with a flattened elliptical body often capable of being rolled into a ball
called also pill bug, sow bug
Examples of wood louse in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bunky would probably have loved to eat a wood louse.
—Anne Fadiman, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Feb. 2023
Widder thinks the fish were searching for giant isopods—ocean crustaceans that look something like a massive terrestrial wood louse (more commonly known as pillbugs or rolly pollies).
—Ferris Jabr, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2010
In the case of one particular 429-million-year-old trilobite—an extinct arthropod that looked like a big version of a wood louse—a crack in just the right place has allowed paleontologists to see the world through the creature’s eyes.
—Riley Black, Scientific American, 13 Aug. 2020
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Word History
First Known Use
1611, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near wood louse
Cite this Entry
“Wood louse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wood%20louse. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
wood louse
noun
: a small flat grayish crustacean that is an isopod, lives in damp places (as under stones, fallen leaves, and rotting logs), and is often capable of rolling its body into a ball
called also pill bug, sow bug
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