Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of numerous oval, flat-bodied insects of the family Blattidae, including several species that are common household pests.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The popular name of the insects of the orthopterous genus Blatta, in a broad sense comprising several species, of which B. (Periplaneta) orientalis, the common cockroach or black beetle, may be regarded as the type. They have parchment-like elytra, and in the female the wings are imperfectly developed. They are nocturnal in their habits, and are very troublesome in houses, where they often multiply with great rapidity, infesting kitchens and pantries, and attacking provisions of all kinds. They have an offensive smell. One of the commonest cockroaches of the United States is the Blatta germanica, commonly called
croton-bug (which see). See also cut underBlattidæ .
Wiktionary
- n. zoology A black or brown straight-winged insect of the order Blattodea.
- n. offensive, slang An unhygienic person or a member of a group of people regarded as unhygienic or rapidly procreating.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) An orthopterous insect of the genus Blatta, and allied genera.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any of numerous chiefly nocturnal insects; some are domestic pests
Etymologies
- From Spanish cucaracha ("woodlouse"), influenced, via folk etymology, by cock and roach. (Wiktionary)
- By folk etymology from obsolete cacarootch, from Spanish cucaracha, from cuca, caterpillar. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“You have the balloon effect for shifting coca production, what I call the cockroach effect for how the cartels jump from one region to the next, and then there's the whack-a-mole policy to try to deal with all of it," says Bruce Bagley, a political scientist at the University of Miami and an expert on the global drug trade.”
“So I guess if a cockroach is seen leaving the White House with a suitcase, the Obama's would be blamed for bringing them there – AND, would be blamed for them moving out!!!”
“First off, most basic sources will just try to give you some fluffy answer about how to tell a boy cockroach from a girl cockroach, which doesn't have anything to do with penises (or lack thereof) at all.”
“In fact, apparently, the easiest way to sex your cockroach is to count the number of of segments on the underside of its abdomen, according to roach expert Joseph Kunkel, a biology professor at the University of Mass.,”
“That's a grown man's hand the cockroach is perched on, and, yes, those are lovely wings.”
“The proteins in cockroach saliva and waste can also cause allergies and aggravate asthma.”
“The Japanese for cockroach is ゴキブリ, gokiburi, just in case you are interested.”
“Simon Mann on TMS: "Paul Collingwood has become England's new 'cockroach' - Australia used to call Mike Atherton 'the cockroach' as no matter how many times you stamped on him, he always came battling back”
“The world’s largest cockroach is the Australian Giant Burrowing Cockroach, which can reach over 3. 5″ in length and weigh more than 1.06 ounces.”
“Just the word cockroach caused a shudder deep inside him.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cockroach’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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EN - newSPEAK
Buzzwords of our time
actionable, administrivia, advermation, agreeance, backbone provider, back-sourcing, baked in, bandwidth, barn raising, Barneyware, belly-buttons, Below Zeros and 1078 more...
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Things We've Seen Moved By Ants
A list of things you've observed ants moving to and fro.
earwig, lacewing, sugar, catfood crumbs, leaf cuttings, grasshopper, spider, katydid, caterpillar, moth, butterfly, dirt and 14 more...
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I do not like them, Sam I Am
Words that, for various reasons, I wish we could do without.
copacetic, gamut, horehound, lewd, membrane, metrics, mucous, mucus, negligee, nostril, odious, odor and 143 more...
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minneapolitan's Words
hissyfit, fussbudget, aghast, lament, trichinellosis, tranche, decadent, aspersion, pejorative, aniline, galoshes, accede and 200 more...
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fred's string
this list is a list.
shingle, inflatable, throbbing, bludge, tendon, weiner, gutter, bong, glacier, kite, giggle, sibling and 52 more...
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Swearwords [NSFW]
Favorite things to call people that piss me off or to shout out when enraged. Not all of them are actual swearwords.
fuck, fucking, shit, idiot, motherfucker, cocksucker, bitch, whore, moron, dickhead, douche, douchebag and 44 more...
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NYTimes
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cockroach.
yarb On the very day you posted that comment, whichbe, I learnt this for myself during a visit to a vivarium. May 10, 2008
whichbe A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off--it dies from starvation. May 7, 2008