earwax (erwaks)

Cerumen. earwig (er'wig), n. [= E. dial. earwike, ear wrig, yerriwig, err i wiggle, etc., err i wiggle, etc., E. weigh: see weigh, wight1. Many languages give a name worm = insect indicating a belief that it is prone to creep into the human ear: D. oorG. ohrwurm, earworm; G.ohrbohrer, 'ear-borer'; Sw. örmask, ear-worm; Dan. örentvist, 'ear-twister'; F. perce-oreille, Pg. fur a orelhas, 'pierce-ear'; Sp. Sp.gusano del oído, It. ver me auri colare, ear-worm, etc.] 1. The popular English name of all the cursorial orthopterous insects of the family Forfi culide, representing the suborder Euplexoptera, which has several genera and numerous species. There is a popular notion that these insects creep into the ear and cause injury to it. They ear Earwig (Spongophora brunneipennis). (Line shows natural size.) are mostly nocturnal and phytophagous, though some are carnivorous. They have filiform, many-jointed antennæ, short, veinle , leathery upper wings, under wings folded both lengthwise and cro wise, anal forceps, and no ocelli. The common earwig is Forficula auricular is; the great earwig is Labidura gigantea; the little earwig is Labia minor. Another species is Spongophora brunneipennis. 2. In the United States, the common name of any of the small centipeds, such as are found in houses in most of the States. -3t. One who gains the ear of another by stealth and whispers insinuations; a prying informer; a whis perer. That gaudy earwig , or my lord your patron, Whose pensioner you are. Ford , Broken Heart, ii. 1. Ear- wiggs that buzz what they think fit in the retir'd closet. Bp . Hacket , Life of Abp. Williams, I. 85. earwig (er'wig), v. t.; pret. and pp. earwigged, ppr. earwigging. [ He was so sure to be earwigged in private that what he heard or said openly went for little. Marryat , Snarleyyow. Up early and down late, for he was nothing of a sluggard; daily ear - wigging influential men, for he was a master of ingratiation. R. L. Stevens on , A College Magazine, ii. ear-witne (er'wit"nes), n . 1. One who is able to give testimony to a fact from his own hearing. An ear - witne of all the pa ages betwixt them. Fuller . Dante is the eye-witne and ear - witne of that which he relates. Macaulay , Milton. 2. A mediate witne ; one who testifies to what he has received upon the testimony of others. Hamilton .