flea

Meaning

Noun

1. A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.
2. A thing of no significance.

Verb

To remove fleas from (an animal).

Verb

Obsolete spelling of flay.

Synonyms

louse

fleas

lice

tick

chigger

bug

🐛

dog louse

pulicidae

jigger

chigoe flea

bedbug

pulicid

chip

insect

leech

nit

sand flea

scratch

dog flea

bird louse

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fliː/

Etymology

From Middle English fle, from Old English flēah, flēa, from Proto-West Germanic *flauh, from Proto-Germanic *flauhaz (compare West Frisian flie, Low German Flo, Flö, Dutch vlo, German Floh, Icelandic fló), from pre-Germanic *plóukos, *plówkos, from or akin to Proto-Indo-European *plúsis (compare Latin pulex, Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi)).
The archaic plural fleen is from Middle English fleen, flen, from Old English flēan (“fleas”).