"That's a fine young fellow," said the historiographer of earwigs, to an American who stood next him in the crowd.

The idea was probably strengthened by the earwig′s appearance, with a sharp, pincer-like appendage extending to the rear. However, earwigs are herbivores, and they are no more likely to enter an ear than are ants, bees, flies, or any other small insect. Even when earwigs do occasionally find their way into human ears, they cannot burrow their way through the skin and into the brain.

2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, Nuthatch, entry in International Wildlife Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition, page 1762,
Nuthatches search the crevices of bark at other times during the year for insects, including beetles, earwigs, flies and bugs, and they open galls (swellings in plants) to extract grubs.

2008, John L. Capinera (editor), European Earwig, Forficula auricularia, Linnaeus (Dermaptera: Forficulidae), entry in Encyclopedia of Entomology, page 1370,
Adults can use the cerci in defense, twisting the abdomen forward over the head or sideways to engage an enemy, often another earwig. Earwigs are nocturnal, spending the day hidden under leaf debris, in cracks and crevices, and in other dark locations.

That gawdy earwig, or my lord your patron, Whose pensioner you are.

In the interim, rest assured that Mr. Atherstone is by no means your friend, for he was perpetually earwigging poor Sir Rowland.

The hon. gentleman Mr. Reynolds had expressed his fears that the Government would allow themselves to be earwigged out of the money.

He had heard nothing from Fin, or anyone else, since the angry exchange the other night and was worried about how things were going, but he couldn′t ask about the LeMotts, not with Mum earwigging.

The nameless earwigging writer scrawled in his notebook that “MS and CT also considered that such low life would have a greater pride and satisfaction in life if they could themselves be cooked and served still bleating to rich diners.″

This man turned up on the last train, wanting a room, and his name had been odd enough to stay in the children′s minds as they earwigged—not something you ever do, Jonty.

We are meeting at a friendly, higher-end Shanghai brunching spot beloved of expats—cramped and informal enough that one of the three bankers at the next table is cheerfully earwigging our conversation.

Earwig

Meaning

Noun

Verb

Origin

Related