delouse
/'di:'laus/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To remove lice or other parasitic insects from a person, animal, object, or place.
- (Figurative) To remove something harmful, dangerous, or unwanted from a system or situation.
Usage
- The primary use of "delouse" is in the context of hygiene, health, and pest control. It describes a specific cleaning action.
- It is a transitive verb, requiring a direct object (e.g., delouse , delouse ).
- The figurative use is less common and typically implies a thorough cleansing or removal of a problematic element.
Examples
Literal Usage:
- The medical team had to delouse the refugees upon their arrival at the camp.
- Before entering the kennel, all dogs are deloused as a standard procedure.
- They deloused the infested bedding by washing it in very hot water.
Figurative Usage:
- The new CEO's first task was to delouse the company of its corrupt management practices.
- The software update aims to delouse the operating system of critical security vulnerabilities.
Advanced Usage
- "to delouse oneself": To perform the act of removing lice from one's own body or belongings.
- After the hiking trip, he had to thoroughly delouse himself.
Variants and Related Words
- Delousing (n): The act or process of removing lice.
- The delousing of the soldiers was a necessary but unpleasant task.
- Louse (n): The parasitic insect that is removed. (Plural: Lice)
Synonyms
- Disinfest: To rid of pests, especially insects.
- Decontaminate: To make safe by removing harmful substances (broader term, can include biological agents).
- Cleanse: To make thoroughly clean (general term).
Phrasal Verbs
(This word does not commonly form phrasal verbs.)
Related Idioms
(There are no common idioms directly using the word "delouse".)
Verb
- free of lice
- They deloused the prisoners after they liberated the camps