assassin bug
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assassin bug
n.
Any of various predatory insects of the family Reduviidae, having a short stout beak used to prey on other insects or, in certain genera, to suck blood from mammals. Also called reduviid.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
assassin bug
n
(Animals) any long-legged predatory, often blood-sucking, insect of the heteropterous family Reduviidae
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
assas′sin bug`
n.
any of various large bugs of the family Reduviidae, many of which kill and extract the blood of other insects and some of which are bloodsucking parasites of mammals.
[1890–95]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | assassin bug - a true bug: long-legged predacious bug living mostly on other insects; a few suck blood of mammals heteropterous insect - true bugs: insects whose forewings are membranous but have leathery tips family Reduviidae, Reduviidae - assassin bugs Arilus cristatus, wheel bug - large predatory North American bug that sucks the blood of other insects |
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