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spittlebug

spit·tle·bug
S s

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [spit-l-buhg]
    • /ˈspɪt lˌbʌg/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [spit-l-buhg]
    • /ˈspɪt lˌbʌg/

Definitions of spittlebug word

  • noun spittlebug the nymph of the froghopper, which surrounds itself with a frothy mass. 1
  • noun spittlebug any of a family (Cercopidae) of small, leaping homopteran insects whose nymphs produce white frothy masses on plants 0

Information block about the term

Origin of spittlebug

First appearance:

before 1880
One of the 23% newest English words
An Americanism dating back to 1880-85; spittle + bug1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Spittlebug

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

spittlebug popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 37% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

spittlebug usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Top questions with spittlebug

  • what is a spittlebug?

See also

Matching words

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