cootie

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

A louse (Pediculus humanus).
Any germ or contaminant, real or imagined, especially from the opposite gender (for pre-pubescent children).
A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).
A sideswiper, a type of telegraph key.

/ˈkuːti/ En-au-cootie.ogg

cootie cooties

Probably from Malay kutu (“flea, louse”) (and/or Tagalog/Māori). First attested in English in 1917 as British army slang during World War I.

lurgy

cootie catcher crazy as a cootie crazy as a cootie bug

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