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Glite Dictionary
house centipede

house centipede

6.7
A long, many-legged creature often found in damp rooms like basements and bathrooms
  • noun
  • /haʊs ˈsɛntɪpiːd/
translation icon : ciempiés
  • The house centipede is often found hiding in dark, damp areas of the house.

Examples

  • After the rain, a house centipede wandered into the living room.

  • I also have house centipedes, roaches, and spiders. Will they be rid of with the exterminator? Thanks again for your help in advance.

    Blog text (3)

  • I spotted a house centipede scurrying across the bathroom floor.

Synonyms

centipede
vshouse centipede
14 3.4

A long thin animal with many legs that uses its front legs to catch small animals

is the narrower name for the long-legged indoor form
Scutigera coleoptrata
vshouse centipede
  • Specialized
9.9

A long-legged centipede that lives in damp places inside houses like bathrooms

is the common everyday name rather than the formal species name
thousand-legs
vshouse centipede
7.7

A small long creature with many legs like a millipede

is the specific indoor long-legged species rather than a general name

Surface Forms

house centipede singular
house centipedes plural

Morphology

house + centipede

The meaning 'a centipede commonly found in houses' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'house' (a building) + 'centipede' (an arthropod). This noun–noun compounding expresses location/association, a common and transparent pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The name house centipede comes from the simple picture of house and centipede: this long-legged bug often lives inside homes in wet places like basements and bathrooms. That's why the name means 'a long-legged centipede often found in houses'.