chinch bug

noun

1. a small lygaeid bug, Blissus leucopterus, that feeds on corn, wheat, and other grains.

chinch bug

noun

1. a black-and-white tropical American heteropterous insect, Blissus leucopterus, that is very destructive to grasses and cereals in the US: family Lygaeidae
2. a related and similar European insect, Ischnodemus sabuleti

Word History and Origins

Origin of chinch bug¹

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85

Example Sentences

Proletarians for the most part wish, chinch-bug fashion, to crawl into the Elysian fields now occupied by the hated capitalists.

From Project Gutenberg

Such well-known insects as the Bed-bug and Chinch-bug belong here.

From Project Gutenberg

The chinch bug alone has demonstrated his power to devastate the wheat fields.

From Project Gutenberg

Ain't de chinch-bug done et up de wheat, jes' as I tole yer?

From Project Gutenberg

Write to the Division of Entomology, Washington, for bulletins on the chinch bug.

From Project Gutenberg