n. [ OE. bugge, fr. W. bwg, bwgan, hobgoblin, scarecrow, bugbear. Cf. Bogey, Boggle. ]
Sir, spare your threats:
The bug which you would fright me with I seek. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ According to popular usage in England and among housekeepers in America around 1900,
Bait bug.
Bug word,
v. t. to annoy; to bother or pester. [ PJC ]
n. (Bot.) A perennial white-flowered herb of the order
n. Same as Bugaboo. --
But, to the world no bugbear is so great
As want of figure and a small estate. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]
The bugaboo of the liberals is the church pray. S. B. Griffin. [ 1913 Webster ]
The great bugaboo of the birds is the owl. J. Burroughs. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. To alarm with idle phantoms. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Zool.) The menhaden. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ F. bougre, fr. LL. Bulgarus, a Bulgarian, and also a heretic; because the inhabitants of Bulgaria were infected with heresy. Those guilty of the crime of buggery were called heretics, because in the eyes of their adversaries there was nothing more heinous than heresy, and it was therefore thought that the origin of such a vice could only be owing to heretics. ]
n. [ OF. bougrerie, bogrerie, heresy. See Bugger. ] Unnatural sexual intercourse; sodomy. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ From Buggy, a. ] The state of being infested with bugs. [ 1913 Webster ]