Cootie vs. Louse — What's the Difference?

A body louse.

Louse (plural: lice) is the common name for members of the order Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless insect. Lice are obligate parasites, living externally on warm-blooded hosts which include every species of bird and mammal, except for monotremes, pangolins, and bats.

A louse (Pediculus humanus).

Either of two small wingless parasitic insects that live on the skin of mammals and birds.

A louse (Pediculus humanus).

A contemptible or unpleasant person.

Any germ or contaminant, real or imagined, especially from the opposite gender (for pre-pubescent children).

Spoil or ruin something

(rare) A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).

Remove lice from.

A sideswiper, a type of telegraph key.

Pl. lice (līs) Any of numerous small, flat-bodied, wingless biting or sucking insects of the order Phthiraptera, which live as external parasites on birds and mammals, including humans. The lice are sometimes classified together with the psocids in the order Psocodea.

A parasitic louse that infests the body of human beings

Pl. lous·es (lousĭz) Slang A mean or despicable person.

To bungle. Often used with up

A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea.

A contemptible person; one who is deceitful or causes harm.

To remove lice from; to delouse.

Any one of numerous species of small, wingless, suctorial, parasitic insects belonging to a tribe (Pediculina), now usually regarded as degraded Hemiptera. To this group belong of the lice of man and other mammals; as, the head louse of man (Pediculus capitis), the body louse (Pediculus vestimenti), and the crab louse (Phthirius pubis), and many others. See Crab louse, Dog louse, Cattle louse, etc., under Crab, Dog, etc.

Any one of numerous small mandibulate insects, mostly parasitic on birds, and feeding on the feathers. They are known as Mallophaga, or bird lice, though some occur on the hair of mammals. They are usually regarded as degraded Pseudoneuroptera. See Mallophaga.

Any one of the numerous species of aphids, or plant lice. See Aphid.

Any small crustacean parasitic on fishes. See Branchiura, and Ichthvophthira.

To clean from lice.

Wingless usually flattened blood-sucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animals

A person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect

Any of several small insects especially aphids that feed by sucking the juices from plants

Wingless insect with mouth parts adapted for biting; mostly parasitic on birds