louse / lous/ • n. 1. (pl. lice / līs/ ) a small, wingless, parasitic insect that lives on the skin of mammals and birds. ∎  (sucking louse) an insect with piercing mouthparts, found only on mammals (order Anoplura, or Siphunculata). ∎  (biting louse) an insect with a large head and jaws, found chiefly on birds (order Mallophaga). 2. (pl. louses ) inf. a contemptible or unpleasant person.• v. / lous; louz/ [tr.] 1. (louse something up) inf. spoil or ruin something. 2. archaic remove lice from.

LOUSE

LOUSE (Heb. כִּנָּם ,כִּנִּים in plural. Talmud כִּנָּה, singular), insect; one of the ten plagues with which Egypt was smitten (Ex. 8:13–14; Ps. 105:31) was the plague of lice. The כֵּן in Isaiah (51.6): "They that dwell therein shall die kemokhen" may refer to the louse; i.e., "like a louse." The louse caused much suffering to people of all classes in former times. A distinction was made between the dark-colored head louse and the light-colored clothes louse (Pes. 112b), two strains of the Pediculus hominis, against which people sought to protect themselves by constantly changing and washing their clothes – although they were also compelled to search their garments to kill the lice (Tosef., Shab. 16:21, where the louse is called ma'akholet, i.e., the eater). Lice nits were regarded as the smallest of creatures, and hence the statement that "the Holy One blessed be He feeds the whole world, from the horned buffalo to the lice nits" (Av. Zar. 3b). Some maintained that "the louse does not multiply and increase" (Shab. 107b) but generates spontaneously.

bibliography:

Lewysohn, Zool, 324–6; J. Feliks, The Animal World of the Bible (1962), 131.

[Jehuda Feliks]

louse Common name for various small, wingless insects, parasitic on birds and mammals. There are two main groups, classified in different sub-orders of Phthiraptera. The chewing lice (Mallophaga) feed mainly on the feathers of birds. The biting or sucking lice (Anoplura) feed only on the blood of mammals. Both kinds are small, pale and flattened, with leathery or hairy skins.

louse (lowss) n. (pl. lice) a small wingless bloodsucking insect that is an external parasite of humans and may transmit disease. Lice attach themselves to hair and clothing; they thrive in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. See also pediculosis.

louse, pl. lice OE. lūs, pl. lȳs = MLG., MDu., OHG. lūs (Du. luis, G. laus), ON. lús; cf. W. lleuen, pl. llau.
Hence lousy XIV.