Meanings
plural cheslips
- UKdialectalA woodlouse.
Mouffet states that “the Asiatic Greeks called them χγαμος from their likenesse^([sic]) to a bean (Galen), for it looks like it when the Cheslip rolls itself up into a round body.”
1860, Ernest Adams, “On the names of the wood-louse”, in Transactions of the Philological Society, page 151 more example
In former times it was known as “Lugdor” and “Socchetre ;” and in common with the hoglouse it is familiar to rustics as “Churchlouse,” “Carpenter,” “Chinch,” or “Cheslip.”
1899, W.T. Fernie, Animal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure, “Woodlouse”, page 524Synonyms: woodlouse
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA woodlouse.
Origin
Unknown, perhaps alteration of an earlier term influenced by cheeselip.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cheslip. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheslip
“cheslip.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheslip. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cheslip,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheslip.
Source: cheslip on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.