Louse \Louse\ (lous), n.; pl. {Lice} (l[imac]s). [OE. lous, AS. l[=u]s, pl. l[=y]s; akin to D. luis, G. laus, OHG. l[=u]s, Icel. l[=u]s, Sw. lus, Dan. luus; perh. so named because it is destructive, and akin to E. lose, loose.] (Zo["o]l.) 1. Any one of numerous species of small, wingless, suctorial, parasitic insects belonging to a tribe ({Pediculina}), now usually regarded as degraded Hemiptera. To this group belong of the lice of man and other mammals; as, the head louse of man ({Pediculus capitis}), the body louse ({Pediculus vestimenti}), and the crab louse ({Phthirius pubis}), and many others. See {Crab louse}, {Dog louse}, {Cattle louse}, etc., under {Crab}, {Dog}, etc.
2. Any one of numerous small mandibulate insects, mostly parasitic on birds, and feeding on the feathers. They are known as Mallophaga, or bird lice, though some occur on the hair of mammals. They are usually regarded as degraded Pseudoneuroptera. See {Mallophaga}.
3. Any one of the numerous species of aphids, or plant lice. See {Aphid}.
4. Any small crustacean parasitic on fishes. See {Branchiura}, and {Ichthvophthira}.
Note: The term is also applied to various other parasites; as, the whale louse, beelouse, horse louse.
{Louse fly} (Zo["o]l.), a parasitic dipterous insect of the group Pupipara. Some of them are wingless, as the bee louse.
{Louse mite} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of mites which infest mammals and birds, clinging to the hair and feathers like lice. They belong to {Myobia}, {Dermaleichus}, {Mycoptes}, and several other genera.
Bushmen are described as people "who had nothing except lice but were happier than we were."
"Given the choice of one of the grates and the urine and the lice and the maggots, I'll take the grates," said Robert Jackson, as a stiff, hot updraft warmed a small circle of men in their 20s and 30s over the Christmas weekend.
"Tice" might conjure up lice, mice or ice, all disastrous images.
Some parents in a German town refused to send their children to a school whose gymnasium had been a temporary shelter for gypsies. They expressed fear their children would catch diseases or be infested with lice.
Moscow does not have enough sanitary stations, medicinal baths, or public health instructors to battle the lice, said A. Frolova, a senior scientific worker of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Preventative Toxicology and Disinfection.
Trying to help the homeless hang on to their health involves coping with some ailments, such as lice and tuberculosis, that are virtually unknown in affluent America, doctors say.