pricklouse

P3R1I1C3K5L1O1U1S1E1
UK/ˈpɹɪklaʊs/

noun

A tailor.

Scrabble 18
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Meanings

nounpricklouse (plural pricklice)

plural pricklice

  1. archaicderogatoryA tailor.

    When she was under Water, and could call him Pricklouse no longer with her Lips, she held up her Hands over her Head

    1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
  2. archaicderogatoryA lousy person.

    that woman […] by no threats or stripes would leave to call her husband pricke-lowse [translating pouilleux], and being cast into a pond and duckt under water, lifted up her hands, and joyning her two thumbs-nailes in act to kill lice above her head, seemed to call him lousie still […].

    , II.32

Origin

From prick + louse.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pricklouse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pricklouse

MLA

“pricklouse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pricklouse. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pricklouse,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pricklouse.

Source: pricklouse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.