Link Centre Dictionary

cootie

coo·tie

UK/ˈkuːti/ uncommon dated rare slang us

noun

1.

a parasitic louse that infests the body of human beings

Synonyms

Origin

Probably from Malay kutu (“flea, louse”) (and/or Tagalog/Māori). First attested in English in 1917 as British army slang during World War I.

Phrases

  • cootie catcher
  • crazy as a cootie
  • crazy as a cootie bug

Related words

Broader terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.