Louse vs Greyback - What's the difference?
louse | greyback |
A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Phthiraptera .
(colloquial, dated, not usually used in plural form) A contemptible person; one who has recently taken an action considered deceitful or indirectly harmful.
To remove lice from the body of a person or animal; to delouse.
(historical, US, colloquial) A Confederate soldier during the US Civil War (because of the grey uniforms).
* 1871 , Mary Stephens Robinson, A household story of the American conflict
*1988 , James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom , Oxford 2004, p. 739:
*:Sheridan managed to keep the graybacks at bay while he tore up the railroad, but he abandoned the plan to link up with Hunter, and the southerners soon repaired the railroad.
(dated) A louse.
* 1886 , Central Reporter: Cases, Courts of Last Resort
A local name for various grey birds.
As nouns the difference between louse and greyback
is that louse is a small parasitic wingless insect of the order phthiraptera while greyback is (historical|us|colloquial) a confederate soldier during the us civil war (because of the grey uniforms).As a verb louse
is to remove lice from the body of a person or animal; to delouse.louse
English
(wikipedia louse)Noun
(en-noun)Synonyms
* (insect) (North America) cootie * (contemptible person) maggot, wormDerived terms
* body louse * booklouse * crab louse * head louse * louser * lousy * pubic louse * sea louse * three skips of a louseVerb
(lous)Synonyms
* delousegreyback
English
Alternative forms
*graybackNoun
(en noun)- ...to resist the farther advance of the greybacks .
- It is alleged by the defendant that there were scabs and greybacks in it, and that it did not come up to the quality of No. 1 slate as contracted for.