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Glite Dictionary
sow bug

sow bug

7.9
A small grey animal with a hard oval body that lives under stones and logs
  • noun
  • /saʊ bʌg/
  • US
translation icon : bicho bola
  • She pointed out a sow bug as she explained the different types of insects found in the soil.

Examples

  • We found a sow bug hiding under a piece of damp bark in the garden.

  • A sow bug curls up when it feels threatened.

  • The children collected sow bugs for their science project.

  • I found a sow bug under the old log.

  • The sow bug scurried away when I lifted the stone.

  • When they lifted the rock, they discovered several sow bugs hiding underneath.

  • In the damp garden, we often find sow bugs crawling among the mulch.

Synonyms

bug
vssow bug
623 1.0

A small insect like an ant or beetle

is a terrestrial crustacean with an oval segmented body, not an insect
pill bug
vssow bug
  • US
6.0

A small land animal that rolls into a ball when touched

is oval shaped and typically found under stones or logs rather than rolling

Surface Forms

sow bug singular
sow bugs plural

Morphology

sow + bug

The modifier 'sow' in 'sow bug' is not the transparent, compositional element a B1 learner would expect (it is not a clear locative or descriptive term like 'wood'), and the compound is a lexicalized name for a specific crustacean. Knowing common senses of 'sow' (female pig or to plant) plus 'bug' would not allow a learner to infer 'small terrestrial isopod', so the meaning is unpredictable from the parts. Cross-linguistically many languages use different, more transparent names (e.g. 'woodlouse'), which signals this is an idiomatic/common name rather than a compositional phrase.

Etymology

Sow bug may come from farmers who thought the little animal acted like a sow, a female pig, because it was often found looking for food in damp soil and garden beds. That simple image of a 'pig-like' bug helped the name stick, so today sow bug means the small ground creature you find under stones.