Definition of "louse"

louse

/laʊs/

noun
plural lice or louses
1. A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea.
2. (colloquial, dated, not usually used in plural form) A contemptible person; one who is deceitful or causes harm.
  Quotations
  He said: "Thanks, friend; but you're wasting your time. You better warn Crocker. If that louse makes a play for me, he'll get hit with Chicago lightning!"
  1946, Joseph Thompson Shaw, The hard-boiled omnibus: early stories from Black Mask, page 388
  It's then that those louses go back to their spouses. Diamonds are a girl's best friend.
  1949, Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (song)
  […] as she raised her guitar for the last loud chord, an unseen louse let loose a rubber-tipped arrow that landed right on her dark-skinned forehead.
  1965 December, Phil Ochs, “That Was The Year That Weren't”, in Cavalier
verb
third-person singular simple present louses, present participle lousing, simple past and past participle loused
1. To remove lice from; to delouse.
  Quotations
  There were a few wire-netted enclosures to keep young chickens from the hawks, but the fowls wandered at large, coming about the hut to ruffle their feathers in the dust, and louse themselves, and pick up scraps.
  1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, page 108