What does bedbug mean?
A bedbug is a small, flat, oval, reddish-brown parasitic insect — chiefly Cimex lectularius — that feeds on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded animals. Wingless and nocturnal, it hides by day in mattress seams, headboards, baseboards, and luggage crevices, emerging at night to bite sleeping hosts. The word is almost always used as a noun and appears most often in contexts of travel, pest control, and public health: hotels face bedbug infestations, exterminators treat them, and travelers inspect mattresses for telltale signs such as dark fecal spots or shed skins. Because the insects are notoriously difficult to eradicate and easily transported in suitcases and secondhand furniture, the term carries connotations of contamination and anxiety even though their presence is not evidence of poor hygiene. Nearly eliminated in many countries after World War II through widespread DDT use, bedbugs rebounded dramatically from the late twentieth century onward, making the word once again common in everyday speech and news reporting about urban pest outbreaks.
nounA small, flat, wingless parasitic insect (Cimex lectularius) that feeds on the blood of humans and animals, typically biting people at night while they sleep, especially in beds.
- A flat, reddish-brown, wingless parasitic bug (Cimex lectularius) that infests beds and bedding and feeds on human blood at night.
"After the trip she found bedbug bites on her arms and immediately washed all her clothes in hot water."
"The hotel offered a refund after a guest reported finding bedbugs in the mattress seams."
"Old furniture picked up from the curb can carry bedbugs into an otherwise clean home."
Regular plural; also spelled "bed bugs."
"Bedbugs can survive for months without feeding, making infestations hard to eliminate."
Bedbugs were so widespread in early 20th-century America that 'sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite' became a nightly goodnight phrase — and the insects nearly vanished after WWII before staging a dramatic global comeback.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bedbug
The word "bedbug" is a straightforward English compound formed from "bed" (Old English "bedd") and "bug" — a Middle English word that originally meant an evil spirit or hobgoblin and later came to denote any insect or creeping creature. The compound arose because the insect characteristically infests beds; it is attested in English by the early seventeenth century. The same sense evolution underlies related words such as "bugbear" and "bugaboo," which preserve "bug"'s older meaning of a frightening phantom.
Related word forms
How bedbug is actually used
"Bedbug" is usually written as one word in modern American usage, though "bed bug" is also accepted; British sources often prefer two words. The word carries strongly negative connotations of uncleanliness and infestation.
Easily confused with bedbug
A dust mite is a microscopic arachnid that feeds on skin flakes in household dust, whereas a bedbug is a visible insect that bites and feeds on blood.