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.

  •
  • fault.
  •
  • zealot,
  • agent.
  •
  • frustrate,
  • anger,
  • madden,
  • provoke,
  • infuriate.
  •
  • fan,
  • buff.
  •bacterium, microorganism (noun)
  • virus.
  •bug (noun)
  • hemipteron,
  • hemipteran,
  • wiretap,
  • glitch,
  • Hemipterous Insect,
  • tap,
  • beleaguer,
  • tease,
  • intercept.
  •computer glitch (noun)
  • error,
  • breakdown,
  • problem,
  • computer malfunction,
  • failure.
  •disease (noun)
  • pestilence,
  • infliction,
  • Sickliness,
  • malaise,
  • fever,
  • handicap,
  • condition,
  • collapse,
  • symptom,
  • ague,
  • indisposition,
  • attack,
  • debility,
  • nausea,
  • curse,
  • apoplexy,
  • disability,
  • complaint,
  • unhealthiness,
  • spasm,
  • syndrome,
  • decrepitude,
  • complication,
  • affection,
  • disorder,
  • feverishness,
  • malady.
  •enthusiast (noun)
  • monomaniac.
  •insect (noun)
  • flea,
  • maggot,
  • ant,
  • cootie,
  • louse,
  • vermin,
  • beetle,
  • gnat.
  •microorganism (noun)
  • micro-organism.

• v.

  •bother, disturb (verb)
  • abrade,
  • needle,
  • get on someone,
  • plague.

• Other synonyms:

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

Paraphrases for Bug:

• Forward Entailment

  • Proper noun, singular
    insect.
  • Noun, singular or mass
    insect.

• Independent

  • Noun, singular or mass
    squealer, malfunction, virus, tracker, pest, informer, snitch, parasite, worm, gnat.
  • Verb, base form
    bother, annoy.

• Other Related

  • Noun, singular or mass
    glitch, beetle, microbe, cockroach, microphone, mosquito, bacterium, earpiece.
  • Interjection
    Insects, insect.

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.