The Collaborative International Dictionary
Chinch \Chinch\, n. [Cf. Sp. chinche, fr. L. cimex.]
(Zo["o]l.) The bedbug ( Cimex lectularius).
(Zo["o]l.) A bug ( Blissus leucopterus), which, in the United States, is very destructive to grass, wheat, and other grains; -- also called chiniz, chinch bug, chink bug. It resembles the bedbug in its disgusting odor.
WordNet
n. small black-and-white insect that feeds on cereal grasses [syn: Blissus leucopterus]
Wikipedia
The term chinch bug can refer to a few different North American insects:
- Blissus insularis – the southern chinch bug
- Blissus leucopterus – the true chinch bug
- Nysius raphanus – the false chinch bug
All three species are in the order Hemiptera, making them true bugs.
- The entire genus Blissus of which there are 16 species in North America..
The term can also be used in the Southern United States to refer to the not closely related bedbugs.
Usage examples of "chinch bug".
And during my emptiest moments when I felt the worst about myself, damn if I wouldn't see one of those chinch bug shells that used to litter the lawn of my childhood home.
Their voices may as well be the chatter of crows as I remember the thick Miami grass of my childhood, and dried-out chinch bug husks and the key lime tree in my small backyard.