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# louse

«louse» in Mova's school dictionary: **A tiny insect without wings that lives on the skin or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

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

### meaning for a pupil

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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#m1)

2) (slang, rude) A nasty, mean person; plural «louses». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#m2)

3) (louse up, informal) To spoil or mess something up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/#m3)

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

### In the corpora

- [Hooke's book Micrographia amazed readers with huge drawings of fleas and lice.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/256-the-microscopic-world-cells-the-building-blocks-of-life/7/)
- [A fine comb gets head lice out, and clean hair gets lice just as easily as dirty hair.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/17/)
- [Head lice are common in schools, are not caused by being dirty, and spread from head to head until they are treated.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/76-washing-your-body-and-hair/21/)
- [Shared helmets, gloves and hats can pass on germs and head lice, so they are cleaned between users.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/252-heat-equipment-and-mosquitoes/3/)
- [Shared helmets and gloves are cleaned between users, because shared gear can spread germs and head lice.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/252-heat-equipment-and-mosquitoes/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «louse» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/louse/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.