kissing bug

kissing bug
1. Informal.
a. a person much given to kissing.
b. an irresistible desire to kiss or be kissed.
2. any of several assassin bugs that attack humans, sometimes inflicting painful bites.
[1895-1900, Amer.]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Kissing bug — Kiss ing bug (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of several species of blood sucking, venomous Hemiptera that sometimes bite the lip or other parts of the human body, causing painful sores, as the cone nose ({Conorhinus sanguisuga}). [U. S.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • kissing bug — ☆ kissing bug n. CONENOSE …   English World dictionary

  • Kissing bug — The insect that carries and transmits the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). The bug got its name because it appears to kiss people, especially babies, on the lips while they are asleep. The bug… …   Medical dictionary

  • kissing bug — noun large bloodsucking bug • Syn: ↑conenose, ↑cone nosed bug, ↑conenose bug, ↑big bedbug • Hypernyms: ↑assassin bug, ↑reduviid • Member Holonyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • kissing bug — noun a bug from the family Hemiptera, that causes sores to the human body …   Wiktionary

  • kissing bug — noun a bloodsucking North American bug which inflicts a painful bite, often on the face. [Melanolestes picipes.] …   English new terms dictionary

  • kissing bug — kiss′ing bug n. ent conenose • Etymology: 1895–1900, amer …   From formal English to slang

  • kissing bug — noun Date: 1899 any of various large bloodsucking bugs and especially some assassin bugs (genus Triatoma) including some capable of inflicting painful bites called also conenose …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • kissing bugs — conenose cone nose, cone nose cone nose , n. A large bloodsucking hemipterous insect of the family {Reduviid[ae]}, often found in houses, esp. in the southern and western United States. It bites severely, and is one of the species called {kissing …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Bug, reduviid — The insect that carries and transmits the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is the cause of Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). The bug is also called the kissing bug because it appears to kiss people, especially babies, on the lips while… …   Medical dictionary

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