bug
bug — noun
1. a tiny crawling or flying creature, especially one people notice as a small inse
a tiny crawling or flying creature, especially one people notice as a small insect.
A fat green bug landed on Mei's sandwich in the park.
bug landed on something
Tiny bugs gathered around the porch light after the rain.
bugs gathered around a light
The children trapped a bright bug in a jar, then let it go.
Under the old log, Yusuf found bugs eating the wet wood.
- garden bug
- dead bug
- kill a bug
- bugs in the house
Grammar Patterns
bug in + house/garden
kill/squash a bug
Usage Note
Often broader and less exact than 'insect' in everyday speech. It is especially common when the speaker sees the creature as small, unpleasant, or hard to identify.
2. a mild sickness that people easily pass to each other, often for a few days.
a mild sickness that people easily pass to each other, often for a few days.
Ravi stayed home with a stomach bug and drank warm tea.
collocation: stomach bug
Half the class caught the same bug after the camping trip.
pattern: catch a bug
A winter bug spread through the office before the holiday break.
By Friday, the little bug had passed, and Omar felt normal again.
- stomach bug
- winter bug
- catch a bug
- pick up a bug
Grammar Patterns
catch a bug
pick up a bug
stomach bug
Usage Note
Common in everyday speech for short illnesses such as a stomach or winter bug. It usually suggests something annoying but not very serious.
Common Mistakes
3. an error in software or another system that makes it behave in the wrong way.
an error in software or another system that makes it behave in the wrong way.
One hidden bug made the ticket app crash every morning.
a bug made software crash
Hana found a bug in the payment system before launch.
pattern: bug in a system
After the update, several small bugs appeared on the login page.
The team worked all night to fix a serious bug.
collocation: fix a bug
- software bug
- find a bug
- fix a bug
- serious bug
Grammar Patterns
bug in + software/system/page
find/fix a bug
Usage Note
Usually used in computing and engineering contexts, often with verbs like 'find', 'fix', 'remove', or 'report'. Distinguish from sense 4, which names a hidden listening device.
Common Mistakes
4. a hidden microphone or similar piece of equipment used to listen to private talk
a hidden microphone or similar piece of equipment used to listen to private talk secretly.
Police found a bug under the mayor's desk lamp.
find a bug
Someone had hidden a bug inside the hotel phone.
bug inside a phone
The reporter checked the meeting room for bugs before the interview started.
A bug in the wall sent every word to the van outside.
- hidden bug
- plant a bug
- find a bug
- bug in the phone
- listening device
the clearest neutral phrase for this meaning
- wiretap
more specific; often connected with phone lines or official surveillance
- microphone
much broader; it does not usually imply secrecy
Grammar Patterns
bug in + room/phone/wall
plant/find a bug
Usage Note
Common in crime, security, and political reporting. Distinguish from verb sense 2, which describes the action of putting such a device in a place.
5. a strong new excitement about an activity or subject that makes you want more of
a strong new excitement about an activity or subject that makes you want more of it.
After one surf lesson, Diego got the bug for the sea.
pattern: get the bug for
During one summer at the farm, Greta caught the gardening bug.
pattern: catch the bug
Now the whole class has the bug for making short films.
pattern: have the bug for
After one spring hike, Noa caught the mountain-climbing bug.
- get the bug for
- catch the bug
- have the bug for
- gardening bug
- enthusiasm
more neutral and less idiomatic
- passion
stronger and often longer-lasting
- craze
suggests a more sudden or fashionable interest
- taste
weaker; it can mean only a small liking for something
- boredom
lack of interest or excitement
- disinterest
absence of attraction to the activity
Grammar Patterns
get the bug for + hobby/topic
catch the bug
have the bug for + activity
Usage Note
Usually appears in fixed expressions such as 'get the bug for', 'catch the bug', or 'have the bug for'. It is especially common for hobbies, travel, and sports.
Common Mistakes
bug — verb
1. to keep bothering someone so that they feel annoyed or slightly uneasy.
to keep bothering someone so that they feel annoyed or slightly uneasy.
That wet sock on the floor bugs Aunt Rosa every day.
pattern: bug + person
It bugs me that the store never labels the spicy sauce.
pattern: it bugs + person + that-clause
The flashing sign outside bugged drivers at the red light.
What bugs Theo most is loud chewing during breakfast.
pattern: what bugs + person + is
- bug someone
- it bugs me that
- what bugs someone most
- really bug someone
Grammar Patterns
bug + person
it bugs + person + that-clause
what bugs + person + is + noun phrase/clause
Usage Note
The object is the person who feels annoyed. Common in speech, especially in patterns like 'It bugs me that ...' and 'What bugs me is ...'.
Common Mistakes
2. to secretly place a listening device in a room, phone, car, or similar place.
to secretly place a listening device in a room, phone, car, or similar place.
Agents bugged the hotel room before the foreign team arrived.
pattern: bug + room
Someone had bugged the office phone before the big vote.
pattern: bug + phone
The lawyer feared his car was bugged after the leak.
passive: be bugged
Police said thieves bugged the room to hear the safe code.
- bug a room
- bug a phone
- car was bugged
- room was bugged
Grammar Patterns
bug + room/phone/car
be bugged
Usage Note
The object is the place or device where the listener is hidden, not the conversation itself. Passive forms such as 'the room was bugged' are especially common.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/3
For software and systems, 'bug' is the everyday word for a fault that makes something behave wrongly. 'Error' is broader: it can be a wrong action by a person, a wrong answer, or a system problem. 'Glitch' often suggests a small, sudden, or temporary failure. 'Flaw' points to a weakness in design or planning, not always a single technical fault. 'Defect' is more formal and is common in engineering, hardware, or quality control. Compare: 'The update added a new bug,' 'A data-entry error broke the report,' and 'The screen glitch disappeared after a restart.'
Etymology
In Middle English, 'bug' first referred to a frightening creature or goblin. English later used it for a small insect, especially one people disliked or found troublesome. From the idea of something small, hidden, and troublesome, the word was extended again in the 1900s to faults in machines and computer programs. The secret-listening sense also grows from the idea of something tiny and hidden.