ETYM Old Eng. lous, as. lűs, pl. lys; akin to Dutch luis, German laus, Old High Germ. lűs, Icel. lűs, Swed. lus, Dan. luus; perh. so named because it is destructive, and akin to Eng. lose, loose.
(Plural: lice).
A wingless, usually flattened, blood-sucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animals; SYN. sucking louse.
Parasitic insect of the order Anoplura, which lives on mammals. It has a flat, segmented body without wings, and a tube attached to the head, used for sucking blood from its host.
Some lice occur on humans, including the head louse Pediculus capitis and the body louse Pediculus corporis, a typhus carrier. Pediculosis is a skin disease caused by infestation of lice. Most mammals have a species of lice adapted to living on them.
Biting lice belong to a different order of insects, Mallophaga, and feed on the skin, feathers, or hair.

To remove lice from