/ bʌg; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] ( especially NAmE ) any small insect
2.
[ C ] ( informal ) an infectious illness that is usually fairly mild :
a flu bug
There's a stomach bug going round (= people are catching it from each other) .
I picked up a bug in the office.
➡ note at disease
3.
(usually the ... bug ) [ sing. ] ( informal ) an enthusiastic interest in sth such as a sport or a hobby :
the travel bug
She was never interested in fitness before but now she's been bitten by the bug .
4.
[ C ] ( informal ) a small hidden device for listening to other people's conversations
5.
[ C ] a fault in a machine, especially in a computer system or program
6.
( NAmE ) = Beetle
■ verb ( -gg- ) [ vn ]
1.
to put a special device (= a bug ) somewhere in order to listen secretly to other people's conversations :
They bugged her hotel room.
They were bugging his telephone conversations.
a bugging device
2.
( informal ) to annoy or irritate sb :
Stop bugging me!
It's something that's been bugging me a lot recently.
•
IDIOMS
- bug off!
••
WORD ORIGIN
early 17th cent.: of unknown origin. Current verb senses date from the early 20th cent.