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# louse

noun (a louse, lice; a louse, louses — slang meaning); verb (louse up — informal)

«louse» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A tiny insect without wings that lives on the skin or hair of people or animals and feeds on blood; plural «lice». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#m1)
2. (slang, rude) A nasty, mean person; plural «louses». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#m2)
3. (louse up, informal) To spoil or mess something up. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#m3)

### In the lessons

In health and school life, head lice spread easily between children; parents comb hair with a special nit comb and use treatment, and it is not a sign of being dirty. In science, lice are parasites. In old stories and slang, calling someone a louse is an insult. Phrases: head lice, nit comb, louse up.

### Examples

- There's a note from school saying a child in our class has head lice. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#x1)
- A louse is a tiny insect that lives in hair. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#x2)
- Mum combed my hair to get rid of the lice. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#x3)
- Lice are parasites that feed on blood. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#x4)
- «You louse! You stole my sweets!» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#x5)
- Don't louse up the plan by being late. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#x6)
- In history, soldiers in the trenches suffered from lice. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#x7)

### Note

Irregular plural: one louse, two lice (like mouse/mice). For the insult, the plural is «louses». Nits are lice eggs. Myth: head lice like clean hair as much as dirty hair; anyone can get them. Adjective: lousy (very bad, informal).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «louse» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«louse» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/louse.html) on Mova free.