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Louse vs Rouse - What's the difference?

louse | rouse |

As a noun louse

is a small parasitic wingless insect of the order phthiraptera .

As a verb louse

is to remove lice from the body of a person or animal; to delouse.

As a proper noun rouse is

.

louse

English

(wikipedia louse)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • 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.

    • Synonyms

    * (insect) (North America) cootie * (contemptible person) maggot, worm

    Derived terms

    * body louse * booklouse * crab louse * head louse * louser * lousy * pubic louse * sea louse * three skips of a louse

    Verb

    (lous)
  • To remove lice from the body of a person or animal; to delouse.

    • Synonyms

    * delouse

    Anagrams

    * English nouns with irregular plurals English words with multiple plurals

    rouse

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) reuser, ruser, originally used in English of hawks shaking the feathers of the body. Figurative meaning "to stir up, provoke to activity" is from 1580s; that of "awaken" is first recorded 1590s.

    Alternative forms

    * rouze (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • an arousal
  • (military, British, and, Canada) The sounding of a bugle in the morning after reveille, to signal that soldiers are to rise from bed, often the rouse .

    • Verb

    (rous)
  • to wake or be awoken from sleep, or from apathy.
    • to rouse the faculties, passions, or emotions
  • * Atterbury
    • to rouse up a people, the most phlegmatic of any in Christendom
  • * Shakespeare
    • Night's black agents to their preys do rouse .
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Morpheus rouses from his bed.
  • (senseid) To provoke (someone) to anger or action.
  • * Milton
    • Blustering winds, which all night long / Had roused the sea.
  • To cause to start from a covert or lurking place.
    • to rouse a deer or other animal of the chase
  • * Spenser
    • Like wild boars late roused out of the brakes.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Rouse the fleet hart, and cheer the opening hound.
  • (nautical) To pull by main strength; to haul
  • (obsolete) To raise; to make erect.
    • (Spenser)
    (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 2

    From carouse, from the phrase "drink carouse" being wrongly analyzed as "drink a rouse".

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • an official ceremony over drinks
    • And the King's rouse the heaven shall bruit again,
    Re-speaking earthly thunder. - "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2 lines 127-128
  • A carousal; a festival; a drinking frolic.
  • * Tennyson
    • Fill the cup, and fill the can, / Have a rouse before the morn.
  • wine or other liquor considered an inducement to mirth or drunkenness; a full glass; a bumper.

    • Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs