BUG | Meaning In The Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of bug in English bugnoun uk /bʌɡ/ us /bʌɡ/

bug noun (INSECT)

Add to word list Add to word list B1 [ C ] a very small insect

• Hang on - there's a bug in your hair - let me get it out for you.
• Will this spray get rid of those little black bugs that are attacking my shrubs?
• We lifted the stone to see if there were any bugs or worms underneath.
• There was a bug crawling across the carpet, and the cat ate it!
• He used to collect beetles and bugs from the garden and study them under the microscope.

Insect names

• anopheles
• ant
• ant lion
• aphid
• aphid lion
• daddy longlegs
• damselfly
• deathwatch beetle
• dragonfly
• dust mite
• house dust mite
• housefly
• insect
• jigger
• ladybird
• silverfish
• sow bug
• sphinx moth
• spider mite
• stick insect

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

General & informal words for animals

bug noun (ILLNESS)

B2 [ C ] informal an illness that is usually not serious and is caused by bacteria or a virus : stomach bug I had a stomach bug last week. There's a bug going around (= an illness that many people are getting).

• Kids get all kinds of bugs at school.
• A nasty flu bug's going round the school at the moment.
• We never found out what was wrong with her - it was just some kind of mystery bug.
• Don't cough on me - I don't want to catch your bugs, thanks!
• He had a strange bug that caused chest pains and general tiredness.

Bacteria, moulds, germs & viruses

• abacterial
• acidophilic
• acquired immune deficiency syndrome
• acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
• Actinomyces
• fairy ring
• Filovirus
• fimbria
• flagellar
• flagellate
• nonbacterial
• norovirus
• nosemosis
• novel
• orthomyxovirus
• varicella zoster virus
• viraemia
• viral load
• virion
• virologist

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bug noun (COMPUTER PROBLEM)

B2 [ C ] a mistake or problem in a computer program: A bug caused the company's computer system to crash.

• If you get a bug in your system, please report it as soon as possible so it can be fixed.
• This program keeps crashing - there must be bug somewhere.
• The software producers are currently trying to fix two significant bugs.
• This game keeps freezing - am I doing something wrong or do you think it's a bug of some sort?
• They've produced a downloadable patch that will repair the bug in the program.

Faults and mistakes

• (that's) your hard luck idiom
• aberration
• Achilles heel
• adrift
• be at fault for something/doing something
• black mark
• electrical fault
• errata
• erratum
• error
• failing
• loophole
• make a gaffe
• malaprop
• miscue
• misfunction
• snag list
• systematic bias
• that's/it's your funeral! idiom
• tragic flaw

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Computer concepts

bug noun (DEVICE)

[ C ] a very small device fixed on to a phone or hidden in a room, that allows you to listen to what people are saying without them knowing International relations: spying and espionage

• agent
• agent provocateur
• anti-bug
• asset
• debug
• handler
• insider
• intel
• intelligence
• intelligence agency
• intelligence agent
• mole
• operative
• scout
• secret agent
• secret service
• sleuthing
• snoop
• snoopy
• the CIA

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bug noun (ENTHUSIASM)

[ S ] informal a very strong enthusiasm for something: He's been bitten by the sailing bug. Excitement, interest, energy and enthusiasm

• adrenalin rush
• alacrity
• animation
• ardency
• ardour
• fever pitch
• fired up
• flirtation
• for kicks
• frenzy
• nibble
• oomph
• out of interest
• overeagerness
• overenthusiasm
• voracity
• wahoo
• warmth
• whirligig
• with a bang idiom

See more results » bugverb [ T ] uk /bʌɡ/ us /bʌɡ/ -gg-

bug verb [T] (ANNOY)

informal to annoy or worry someone: He's been bugging me all morning. to annoy someone

• annoyIt annoys me that you're always late.
• botherIt bothers me that you don't help with the washing up.
• irritateAfter a while her behaviour really began to irritate me.
• peeveWhat peeved her most was that he hadn't even called her.
• bugHe's been bugging me all morning.
• aggravateIt really aggravates me the way he never thanks me for what I've done.

See more results » Causing feelings of anger and displeasure

• aggravate
• aggrieve
• alienate
• anger
• annoy
• bend
• go too far idiom
• goat
• grate
• grate on someone/something
• hack someone off phrasal verb
• nark
• rile
• rub
• rub someone up the wrong way idiom
• ruffle
• ruffle someone's feathers idiom
• tit
• tooth
• troll

See more results »

bug verb [T] (HIDE DEVICE)

to place or hide a listening device inside something: often passive She suspected that her phone had been bugged. International relations: spying and espionage

• agent
• agent provocateur
• anti-bug
• asset
• debug
• handler
• insider
• intel
• intelligence
• intelligence agency
• intelligence agent
• mole
• operative
• scout
• secret agent
• secret service
• sleuthing
• snoop
• snoopy
• the CIA

See more results »

Phrasal verb

bug out (Definition of bug from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

bug | American Dictionary

bugnoun us /bʌɡ/

bug noun (INSECT)

Add to word list Add to word list [ C ] an insect: Some tiny white bugs had eaten the leaves of my house plants. [ C ] A bug is also a small organism that causes an illness: The flu bug is going around, and almost everyone is sick.

bug noun (FAULT)

[ C ] a mistake or problem in the way something works: He said they had eliminated all the bugs in the software, and we hoped this was true.

bug noun (DEVICE)

[ C ] a small device that is easily hidden, used to record people’s conversations without their knowledge

bug noun (ENTHUSIASM)

[ U ] infml a strong enthusiasm for something: When I was about 17, I was bitten by the acting bug and began to try out for parts. bugverb [ T ] us /bʌɡ/ -gg-

bug verb [T] (ANNOY)

infml to annoy someone repeatedly: My lawyer is bugging me for stuff I just don’t have.

bug verb [T] (HIDE DEVICE)

to hide a listening device in something: She suspected that her phone had been bugged. (Definition of bug from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

bug | Business English

bugnoun [ C ]   IT uk /bʌɡ/ us Add to word list Add to word list a mistake or problem in a computer program: The latest update fixes several known bugs in the script. Please submit all bug reports to the IT department. (Definition of bug from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of bug

bug In practice, this capability is quite useful in discovering 'hard-to-find' bugs. From the Cambridge English Corpus It must be this scientific 'bug' about research, collecting data and processing them with aid of a computer which is at work. From the Cambridge English Corpus All are vulnerable to software bugs, however, at any time and so the liability of software companies needs to be ascertained. From the Cambridge English Corpus There are also some bugs in the exercises, which may or may not have been corrected. From the Cambridge English Corpus In return for obeying the type rules, the programmer is rewarded with compile-time error messages instead of run-time bugs. From the Cambridge English Corpus These entities may be called demons or "the evil," animalculi or bugs, bacteria or viruses. From the Cambridge English Corpus Unfortunately, a bug has crept into the adapted code, leading to a black hole. From the Cambridge English Corpus It commonly takes a few iterations before one begins to find bugs in the program itself. From the Cambridge English Corpus The parasites appeared to be merely digested by the bug, the rate of digestion being governed by the temperature at which the insects were maintained. From the Cambridge English Corpus Intercropping facilitated a reduction in the cowpea bug infestation and in flea beetles on okra. From the Cambridge English Corpus He viewed the detection and repair of a ' 'bug' ' or a protection violation to be a central aspect of this process. From the Cambridge English Corpus This security bug was later fixed by the developers when the second author made them aware of the problem. From the Cambridge English Corpus If the answer is that the result is incorrect, then there must be a bug in the applied function. From the Cambridge English Corpus The story follows the mama bug and baby as they get the baby ready for bed. From the Cambridge English Corpus And there appear to be a few bugs (subliminal images appeared when they presumably should not have on following some of the menu options). From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of bug These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of bug, Bug?

Translations of bug

in Chinese (Traditional) 昆蟲, 小蟲子, 病… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 昆虫, 小虫子, 病… See more in Spanish bicho, infección, error… See more in Portuguese bicho, bichinho, micróbio… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian एक अतिशय लहान कीटक, विषाणू संसर्ग - जीवाणू किंवा विषाणूमुळे झालेला गंभीर नसलेला आजार, बग - संगणक प्रणालीतील चूक किंवा धोकादायक आज्ञावली… See more 虫, 昆虫, 感染症… See more bakteri, virüs, bilgisayar programında hata… See more insecte [masculine], mal [masculine], virus [masculine]… See more cuca, infecció, error… See more insect, luis, virus… See more மிகச் சிறிய பூச்சி, பொதுவாக தீவிரமாக இல்லாத மற்றும் பாக்டீரியா அல்லது வைரஸால் ஏற்படும் ஒரு நோய், கணினி நிரலில் தவறு அல்லது சிக்கல்… See more एक छोटा कीड़ा, कीट, बग… See more માંકડ, નાનકડું જંતુ, બગ… See more insekt, væggelus, virus… See more insekt, skalbagge, vägglus… See more serangga, pijat, kuman… See more das Insekt, die Wanze, der Bazillus… See more insekt [neuter], infeksjon [masculine], feil [masculine]… See more کھٹمل, ہلکی بیماری جیسے فلو وغیرہ, بگ… See more комаха, жук, блощиця… See more పురుగు, బాక్టీరియా లేదా వైరస్ వల్ల కలిగే చిన్నపాటి అస్వస్థత. సాధారణంగా ఇది అంత ప్రమాదకరం కాదు., కంప్యూటర్ ప్రోగ్రాంలో దోషం లేక సమస్య… See more খুব ছোট পোকা, রোগ জীবাণু সংক্রমণ, কম্প্যুটার প্রোগ্রাম সম্পর্কিত সমস্যা বা কোনো ভুল… See more hmyz, brouk, štěnice… See more serangga, kutu, hama… See more แมลง, เชื้อโรค, อุปกรณ์ดักฟัง… See more con bọ, con rệp, vi trùng… See more wirus, zarazek, błąd… See more 벌레, 박테리아나 바이러스가 원인이 되는 유행성 질병, (컴퓨터 프로그램의) 오류… See more insetto, cimice, bestiolina… See more Need a translator?

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buffeting buffing buffoon buffoonery bug bug hotel bug house bug out phrasal verb bug-eyed {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of bug

• firefly
• lightning bug
• sow bug
• anti-bug
• bug-eyed
• pill bug
• bug hotel

See all meanings

• bug out phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

Word of the Day

record

UK /rɪˈkɔːd/ US /rɪˈkɔːrd/

to keep information for the future, by writing it down or storing it on a computer

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • bug (INSECT)
    • bug (ILLNESS)
    • bug (COMPUTER PROBLEM)
    • bug (DEVICE)
    • bug (ENTHUSIASM)
  • Verb 
    • bug (ANNOY)
    • bug (HIDE DEVICE)
• American   
  • Noun 
    • bug (INSECT)
    • bug (FAULT)
    • bug (DEVICE)
    • bug (ENTHUSIASM)
  • Verb 
    • bug (ANNOY)
    • bug (HIDE DEVICE)
• Business   Noun
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

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