wood louse

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wood·louse

or wood louse (wo͝od′lous′)

n. pl. wood·lice (-līs′) or wood lice

Any of various terrestrial isopod crustaceans of the suborder Oniscidea, having a gray or brown oval segmented body and commonly found in damp places such as under logs. Some woodlice can roll into a ball. Also called pillbug, slater, sowbug.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wood′ louse`

any of various tiny isopod crustaceans, often of damp shady habitats, as the pill bug and the sow bug.

[1605–15]

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References in periodicals archive ?

The inspection report said a cleaning cupboard in the food preparation room was "dirty", and there was evidence of "mould growth, wood louse and slugs".

shocking '0' hygiene rating for 'dirty' deli; Evidence of 'mould growth, wood louse and slugs' at takeaway

I'm sure the earth shall remain, if not elsewhere, it shall remain in my bones; as a wood louse lives in the trunk of a tree, as a weevil lives in a seed, the earth shall remain in me even after doomsday; if not, elsewhere, in my mortality.

The Earth Shall Remain

None of them, however, proved quite as extraordinary as the humble wood louse, which was followed on a dangerous journey looking for a damp spot in a shed.

STEVE HENDRY; The TV man who's seen it all True life tale of 1961 battle to broadcast Nazi trial brought home the power of television and the atrocities of war. Bringing a little light relief, Winterwatch team say bottoms up - - literally - - to a thirsty louse and Katie Piper goes undie cover to see a crude tattoo

Possible replies: pill bug, doodlebug, potato bug, roly poly, sow bug, twiddle bug, wood louse, millipede and centipede.

Strange dialect, in a matter of speaking

She has studied a range of animals from the giant isopod which looks like a large underwater wood louse to Antarctic fish.