Noun: earwig
| Singular | earwig |
| Plural | earwigs |
Sample Sentences
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"That's a fine young fellow," said the historiographer of earwigs, to an American who stood next him in the crowd. [1856, L. S. Lavenu, chapter XVII, in Erlesmere; or, Contrasts of Character, volume 1, London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 171:]
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The idea was probably strengthened by the earwig′s appearance, with a sharp, pincer-like appendage extending to the rear. However, earwigs are herbivores, and they are no more likely to enter an ear than are ants, bees, flies, or any other small insect. Even when earwigs do occasionally find their way into human ears, they cannot burrow their way through the skin and into the brain. [2001, Jan Harold Brunvand, Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, page 128:]
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2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, Nuthatch, entry in International Wildlife Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition, page 1762,
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Nuthatches search the crevices of bark at other times during the year for insects, including beetles, earwigs, flies and bugs, and they open galls (swellings in plants) to extract grubs.
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2008, John L. Capinera (editor), European Earwig, Forficula auricularia, Linnaeus (Dermaptera: Forficulidae), entry in Encyclopedia of Entomology, page 1370,
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Adults can use the cerci in defense, twisting the abdomen forward over the head or sideways to engage an enemy, often another earwig. Earwigs are nocturnal, spending the day hidden under leaf debris, in cracks and crevices, and in other dark locations.
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That gawdy earwig, or my lord your patron, Whose pensioner you are. [1633, John Ford (dramatist), The Broken Heart:]
Nouns inflected like earwig
soldier's woundwort,
Nicosian,
whopper,
greypate,
tactile sign language,
chronotrope,
Rosie Lee,
dissentient,
photoinactivator,
sulphonediimine,
coastal waterfall,
residuary devise,
bituminization,
nitrosonaphthol,
smṛiti,
geosphere,
backscreen,
mensuralist,
flocculate,
flocculant, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
1. From Middle English erwigge, from Old English ēarwicga, from ēare (“ear”) + wicga (“insect”), so named from the appearance of the hindwings, which are unique in their resemblance to human ears when unfolded.
2. Compare typologically Dutch oorworm, German Ohrwurm, Danish ørentvist; French perce-oreille, Romanian urechelniță; Russian уховёртка (uxovjórtka), Serbo-Croatian uholaža, Slovak ucholak; Lithuanian auslinda (all are cognates via Proto-Indo-European *h₂ows-). Also compare Mongolian чихүүр хорхой (čixüür xorxoj) (<+ чих (čix)), Turkish kulağakaçan (<+ kulak). See: Middle English Nouns '
erwigge', Old English Nouns '
ēarwicga', Dutch Nouns '
oorworm', German Nouns '
Ohrwurm', French Nouns '
perce-oreille', Romanian Nouns '
urechelniță', Slovak Nouns '
ucholak'.
Verbs referencing "earwig"
German Nouns
Ohrwurm, Bulgarian Nouns
ухолазка.