Definition for Bug:

• An unwanted and unintended property of aprogram or piece of hardware, especially one that causesit to malfunction. Antonym of feature. E.g. " There's a bugin the editor: it writes things out backward." Theidentification and removal of bugs in a program is called"debugging". Admiral Grace Hopper ( an early computing pioneer betterknown for inventing COBOL) liked to tell a story in which atechnician solved a glitch in the Harvard Mark II machineby pulling an actual insect out from between the contacts ofone of its relays, and she subsequently promulgated bug inits hackish sense as a joke about the incident ( though, as shewas careful to admit, she was not there when it happened). For many years the logbook associated with the incident andthe actual bug in question ( a moth) sat in a display case atthe Naval Surface Warfare Center ( NSWC). The entire story,with a picture of the logbook and the moth taped into it, isrecorded in the " Annals of the History of Computing", Vol. 3,No. 3 ( July 1981), pp. 285-- 286.The text of the log entry ( from September 9, 1947), reads"1545 Relay # 70 Panel F ( moth) in relay. First actual case ofbug being found". This wording establishes that the term wasalready in use at the time in its current specific sense - andHopper herself reports that the term " bug" was regularlyapplied to problems in radar electronics during WWII.Indeed, the use of " bug" to mean an industrial defect wasalready established in Thomas Edison's time, and a morespecific and rather modern use can be found in an electricalhandbook from 1896 (" Hawkin's New Catechism of Electricity", Theo. Audel & Co.) which says: " The term " bug" is used to alimited extent to designate any fault or trouble in theconnections or working of electric apparatus." It furthernotes that the term is " said to have originated inquadruplex telegraphy and have been transferred to allelectric apparatus." The latter observation may explain a common folk etymology ofthe term; that it came from telephone company usage, in which"bugs in a telephone cable" were blamed for noisy lines.Though this derivation seems to be mistaken, it may well be adistorted memory of a joke first current among * telegraph*operators more than a century ago!Actually, use of " bug" in the general sense of a disruptiveevent goes back to Shakespeare! In the first edition ofSamuel Johnson's dictionary one meaning of " bug" is " Afrightful object; a walking spectre"; this is traced to"bugbear", a Welsh term for a variety of mythological monsterwhich ( to complete the circle) has recently been reintroducedinto the popular lexicon through fantasy role-playing games.In any case, in jargon the word almost never refers toinsects. Here is a plausible conversation that never actuallyhappened:" There is a bug in this ant farm!"" What do you mean? I don't see any ants in it."" That's the bug."[ There has been a widespread myth that the original bug wasmoved to the Smithsonian, and an earlier version of this entryso asserted. A correspondent who thought to check discoveredthat the bug was not there. While investigating this in late1990, your editor discovered that the NSWC still had the bug,but had unsuccessfully tried to get the Smithsonian to acceptit - and that the present curator of their History ofAmerican Technology Museum didn't know this and agreed that itwould make a worthwhile exhibit. It was moved to theSmithsonian in mid-1991, but due to space and moneyconstraints has not yet been exhibited. Thus, the process ofinvestigating the original-computer-bug bug fixed it in anentirely unexpected way, by making the myth true! - ESR]

Synonyms for Bug:

• n.

  •
  • enthusiasm,
  • beetle,
  • pest,
  • vermin,
  • insect.
  •
  • defect,
  • blemish,
  • flaw,
  • imperfection,
  • fault.
  •
  • devotee,
  • fanatic,
  • agent,
  • counterintelligence,
  • espionage,
  • zealot,
  • collaboration,
  • enthusiast.
  •
  • frustrate,
  • bother,
  • provoke,
  • annoy,
  • infuriate,
  • madden,
  • anger,
  • microorganism,
  • irritate.
  •
  • edit.
  •
  • shortcoming,
  • nag.
  •
  • fiend,
  • nut,
  • buff,
  • fan,
  • maniac,
  • worm,
  • creepy-crawly,
  • freak.
  •bacterium, microorganism (noun)
  • germ,
  • infection,
  • virus,
  • bacillus,
  • disease,
  • microbe.
  •bug (noun)
  • hemipteran,
  • hemipteron,
  • pester,
  • beleaguer,
  • Hemipterous Insect,
  • glitch,
  • tap,
  • badger,
  • intercept,
  • wiretap,
  • germ,
  • harass,
  • tease,
  • microbe.
  •computer glitch (noun)
  • failure,
  • error,
  • trouble,
  • defect,
  • computer malfunction,
  • problem,
  • flaw,
  • breakdown,
  • hitch,
  • fault.
  •disease (noun)
  • infliction,
  • disease,
  • complaint,
  • infirmity,
  • infection,
  • collapse,
  • ailment,
  • pestilence,
  • affection,
  • breakdown,
  • feverishness,
  • queasiness,
  • ague,
  • attack,
  • disorder,
  • decrepitude,
  • sickness,
  • spasm,
  • Sickliness,
  • unhealthiness,
  • virus,
  • complication,
  • fever,
  • malaise,
  • nausea,
  • handicap,
  • apoplexy,
  • malady,
  • condition,
  • debility,
  • syndrome,
  • illness,
  • curse,
  • symptom,
  • indisposition,
  • disability.
  •enthusiast (noun)
  • monomaniac.
  •error (noun)
  • glitch.
  •insect (noun)
  • flea,
  • cootie,
  • vermin,
  • beetle,
  • gnat,
  • maggot,
  • ant,
  • pest,
  • louse.
  •microorganism (noun)
  • micro-organism.
  •obsession (noun)
  • fad,
  • mania,
  • zeal,
  • craze,
  • enthusiasm,
  • rage.

• v.

  •bother, disturb (verb)
  • harass,
  • provoke,
  • needle,
  • irk,
  • irritate,
  • vex,
  • get on someone,
  • chafe,
  • pester,
  • badger,
  • annoy,
  • gall,
  • nettle,
  • abrade,
  • plague.
  •listen to without permission (verb)
  • overhear,
  • spy,
  • wiretap,
  • eavesdrop,
  • listen in,
  • tap.

• Other synonyms:

  •
  • espionage,
  • subroutine,
  • microphone,
  • fly,
  • microorganism,
  • listening device,
  • spy on,
  • creepy-crawly,
  • spook,
  • counterintelligence,
  • collaboration,
  • enthusiast,
  • pest,
  • bedbug,
  • spy.
  •
  • imperfection,
  • devotee,
  • flaw,
  • irk,
  • nettle,
  • password,
  • vocabulary,
  • receiver,
  • penetrate,
  • rile,
  • peeve,
  • defect,
  • wire,
  • annoy,
  • exasperate,
  • maniac,
  • blemish.
  •
  • irritate,
  • front end,
  • vex,
  • script,
  • plant,
  • chafe,
  • freak,
  • worm,
  • shortcoming,
  • bother,
  • ruffle.
  •
  • aggravate,
  • agent,
  • fret,
  • module,
  • fiend.
  •
  • disturb,
  • fanatic,
  • provoke,
  • fault.
  •
  • nut,
  • edit.
  •
  • link.
  •
  • get.
  •aggravate
  • nag,
  • be at,
  • gall,
  • irk,
  • pick on,
  • get on one's nerves,
  • get to,
  • provoke.
  •agitate
  • PSYCH,
  • burn up.
  •beset
  • give the needle.
  •besiege
  • buttonhole.
  •break down
  • malfunction.
  •confuse
  • confound.
  •eavesdrop
  • wire,
  • wiretap,
  • be all ears,
  • listen in,
  • overhear,
  • bend an ear.
  •hemipterous insect
  • Hemipterous Insect.
  •irritate
  • rub the wrong way,
  • get under skin.
  •nag
  • case.
  •overhear
  • eavesdrop.
  •parasite
  • mite.
  •partisan
  • zealot.
  •pursue
  • scout out.
  •worry
  • dun.
  •Other relevant words:
  • bugger up,
  • mite,
  • hobgoblin,
  • becloud,
  • give attention,
  • butterfly,
  • scout,
  • believer,
  • heckle,
  • gall,
  • magnate,
  • frustrate,
  • hemipteran,
  • fascination,
  • harass,
  • subroutine,
  • irritate,
  • bad,
  • confound,
  • lampoon,
  • discompose,
  • gripe,
  • pathogen,
  • addict,
  • listening device,
  • make see red,
  • give ear,
  • get,
  • needle,
  • cold,
  • nut,
  • break off,
  • spy on,
  • upset,
  • cootie,
  • module,
  • passion,
  • booster,
  • creepy-crawly,
  • peeve,
  • message,
  • get goat,
  • pooch,
  • faute,
  • enthusiasm,
  • password,
  • give audience to,
  • inaccurate,
  • engross,
  • preoccupy,
  • rag,
  • guy,
  • circumvent,
  • Diplopod,
  • pester,
  • bugbear,
  • pick at,
  • Distemperature,
  • Sorehead,
  • scout out,
  • booger,
  • bedbug,
  • mistake,
  • defection,
  • entangle,
  • failure,
  • pressure,
  • moulder,
  • enfant terrible,
  • distemper,
  • surveillance,
  • caterpillar,
  • Energumen,
  • protozoa,
  • start,
  • adenovirus,
  • madden,
  • flu,
  • get in one's hair,
  • cloud,
  • raise hell,
  • worm,
  • inadequacy,
  • sniffles,
  • mumbo jumbo,
  • freak,
  • cajole,
  • draw from,
  • coccus,
  • information,
  • interfere,
  • head,
  • razz,
  • flea,
  • arsonist,
  • get to,
  • pursuer,
  • PSYCH,
  • gnat,
  • taint,
  • shortcoming,
  • abrade,
  • insect,
  • signals,
  • stir up,
  • microphone,
  • deride,
  • exercise,
  • sit in on,
  • bacterial,
  • hemipteron,
  • blandish,
  • backswimmer,
  • bacterium,
  • muddle,
  • torment,
  • fire up,
  • discombobulate,
  • millepede,
  • displease,
  • crotchet,
  • hark,
  • vocabulary,
  • tap,
  • louse,
  • fad,
  • beleaguer,
  • dog,
  • bait,
  • eat at,
  • commands,
  • nutter,
  • agitate,
  • get in hair,
  • flummox,
  • problem,
  • protozoon,
  • microorganism,
  • ride,
  • listen,
  • manic-depressive psychosis,
  • erroneous,
  • carp at,
  • foible,
  • distend,
  • besiege,
  • fluff,
  • fruitcake,
  • disconcert,
  • addle,
  • swell,
  • round out,
  • arouse,
  • riffraff,
  • weak link,
  • devotee,
  • source,
  • follower,
  • bacillus,
  • admirer,
  • brown off,
  • misleading,
  • compiler,
  • grouch,
  • disrupt,
  • hitch,
  • nag,
  • wire,
  • scarecrow,
  • bugaboo,
  • be all ears,
  • arachnid,
  • spider,
  • make sport of,
  • head cold,
  • fly,
  • devil,
  • rile,
  • mold,
  • hear,
  • miff,
  • hearken,
  • craze,
  • weakness,
  • press,
  • ridicule,
  • fanatico,
  • tee off,
  • output,
  • glitch,
  • affliction,
  • harvestman,
  • distract,
  • adherent,
  • irk,
  • mould,
  • convulse,
  • hear out,
  • millipede,
  • knock,
  • offend,
  • collaboration,
  • harry,
  • aggravate,
  • reovirus,
  • disorient,
  • input data,
  • daze,
  • listen in,
  • assembler,
  • nibble at,
  • instructions,
  • ply,
  • tease apart,
  • amoeba,
  • rhinovirus,
  • incense,
  • mock,
  • illusory,
  • overhear,
  • boogeyman,
  • dazzle,
  • flurry,
  • computer program,
  • fluster,
  • chafe,
  • bedazzle,
  • bend an ear,
  • drawback,
  • flout,
  • jut,
  • bewilder,
  • Moider,
  • work up,
  • break open,
  • push,
  • bigwig,
  • micro-organism,
  • mike,
  • hound,
  • loosen,
  • illusive,
  • roil,
  • streptococcus,
  • Hemipterous Insect,
  • spore,
  • hem in,
  • larva,
  • reconnoiter,
  • beetle,
  • infatuation,
  • idiosyncrasy,
  • plague,
  • spook,
  • pique,
  • mistakenly,
  • pest,
  • murrain,
  • mosquito,
  • embarrass,
  • faddist,
  • ogre,
  • insult,
  • bugger,
  • zeal,
  • belly,
  • poke out,
  • hexadecimal system,
  • furore,
  • exploit,
  • receiver,
  • pout,
  • automobile,
  • Fash,
  • project,
  • eager beaver,
  • monomaniac,
  • break out,
  • obsess,
  • preoccupation,
  • throw into confusion,
  • crack,
  • vibrio,
  • bogeyman,
  • trypanosome,
  • ant,
  • agent,
  • peep,
  • pother,
  • get under skin,
  • collector,
  • disorganize,
  • rickettsia,
  • rattle,
  • deficiency,
  • amebic,
  • nag at,
  • hassle,
  • bogey,
  • jeer,
  • rankle,
  • sneer,
  • votary,
  • nudzh,
  • enrage,
  • lend an ear,
  • erroneously,
  • Murmurer,
  • flaw,
  • carp,
  • abash,
  • mutterer,
  • Bouge,
  • espionage,
  • dun,
  • noise,
  • intrude,
  • fuddle,
  • pick,
  • gram-negative bacteria,
  • peck at,
  • infatuate,
  • microzoon,
  • play,
  • teeny-bopper,
  • inconvenience,
  • bigot,
  • disciple,
  • spirochete,
  • pyromaniac,
  • spirillum,
  • Fee-faw-fum,
  • sectarian,
  • maze,
  • crank,
  • get on someone,
  • discomfit,
  • defect,
  • infuriate,
  • goggle,
  • binary system,
  • computer virus,
  • unsettle,
  • Mormo,
  • failing,
  • furor,
  • mania,
  • wrongly,
  • tantalise,
  • persecute,
  • equivocal,
  • scorpion,
  • scoff,
  • befuddle,
  • watch,
  • balloon,
  • provoke,
  • incorrect,
  • machine language,
  • something wrong,
  • plant,
  • Hexapod,
  • fault,
  • annoy,
  • computer code,
  • make fun of,
  • picornavirus,
  • rap,
  • star,
  • enterovirus,
  • malfunction,
  • demon,
  • fan,
  • mouldy,
  • staphylococcus,
  • weak point,
  • microbe,
  • Henpeck,
  • perturb,
  • stick out,
  • fog,
  • pop,
  • yap,
  • bag,
  • front end,
  • investigate,
  • transmitter,
  • notables,
  • bit,
  • nutcase,
  • trouble,
  • quirk,
  • twit,
  • Chilopod,
  • Exsert,
  • blemish,
  • extremist,
  • promoter,
  • deficient,
  • case,
  • bullyrag,
  • urge,
  • peculiarity,
  • nightmare,
  • faulty,
  • sickie,
  • ambiguous,
  • fiend,
  • poke fun at,
  • protrude,
  • rift,
  • frailty,
  • wrongful,
  • untrue,
  • vicious,
  • origin,
  • gram-positive bacteria,
  • burst open,
  • attend to,
  • obsession,
  • supporter,
  • give the needle,
  • kink,
  • make blood boil,
  • hang-up,
  • terrorist,
  • work on,
  • incorrectly,
  • ruffle,
  • pouch,
  • junkie,
  • reconnoitre,
  • card,
  • worry,
  • communist,
  • inflame,
  • get on one's nerves,
  • maggot,
  • binary digit,
  • anarchist,
  • groupie,
  • big gun,
  • lover,
  • anger,
  • dogmatist,
  • stand out,
  • bacteria,
  • break down,
  • boggart,
  • tease,
  • barrack,
  • sicko,
  • pry,
  • thrust out,
  • rouse,
  • burlesque,
  • vex,
  • arthropod,
  • Mistakable,
  • aerobe,
  • tarantula,
  • extend,
  • hole,
  • incendiary,
  • imperfect,
  • link,
  • fuss at,
  • command,
  • spy out,
  • nettle,
  • attend,
  • get under one's skin,
  • Rhapsodist,
  • bulge,
  • bilge,
  • vermin,
  • confusing,
  • maniac,
  • mist,
  • beset,
  • seed,
  • rib,
  • solicit,
  • data,
  • wiretap,
  • belly out,
  • Notabilities,
  • firebrand,
  • branch,
  • coax,
  • signal,
  • improper,
  • addle the wits,
  • fret,
  • bristle,
  • pursue,
  • listen to,
  • put,
  • spy,
  • flutter,
  • molest,
  • defective,
  • computer malfunction,
  • surround,
  • auscultate,
  • bedevil,
  • heed,
  • depress,
  • stop,
  • hobbyist,
  • hector,
  • zealot,
  • Importune,
  • grub,
  • superstar,
  • put out,
  • gravedo,
  • throw,
  • yap at,
  • perplex,
  • coryza,
  • ball up,
  • bed bug,
  • snag,
  • influenza,
  • tip-off,
  • intercept,
  • tick off,
  • rub,
  • celebrity,
  • common cold,
  • anaerobe,
  • disturb,
  • germ,
  • pick on,
  • nymph,
  • poor,
  • eavesdrop,
  • badger,
  • script,
  • Bogle,
  • imperfection,
  • echovirus,
  • get on nerves,
  • get at,
  • aficionado,
  • catch,
  • peck,
  • confuse,
  • aerobic bacteria,
  • interrupt,
  • grippe,
  • exasperate,
  • embroil,
  • computer language,
  • beg,
  • taunt,
  • lunatic fringe,
  • penetrate,
  • bewitch,
  • enthusiast,
  • billow,
  • vulnerable place,
  • fungus,
  • bother,
  • falsely,
  • anaerobic bacteria,
  • visionary,
  • buttonhole,
  • tick,
  • distress,
  • chivy,
  • dissatisfy,
  • buff,
  • fanatic,
  • tantalize,
  • swell out,
  • error,
  • kid,
  • chivvy,
  • champion,
  • niggle,
  • chinch,
  • cheese off,
  • centipede,
  • edit,
  • false,
  • rage,
  • roast,
  • counterintelligence,
  • fuss,
  • eccentricity,
  • daddy longlegs,
  • communicable disease,
  • wheedle,
  • try,
  • burn up,
  • be at,
  • dilate,
  • byte,
  • rub the wrong way.

Antonyms for Bug:

• n.

  • computer glitch
    advantage, benefit, strength, perfection.
  • obsession
    apathy, lethargy, indifference.
  • Other antonyms:
    health, healthiness, soundness, critic, heartiness, fettle, wellness, carper, robustness, wholesomeness, detractor, fitness, wholeness, shape.

• v.

  • bother, disturb
    help, soothe, aid, delight, please, not bother, assist, make happy.

Homophones for Bug:

• bugg, bugge.

Hyponym for Bug:

• n.

  • animal
    insect.
  • artifact
    microphone, MIC, mike.