antibug

English

Etymology

From anti- +‎ bug.

Adjective

antibug (not comparable)

1. Serving to kill or repel bugs (insects).
   • 1961, Felix Greene, Awakened China: the country Americans don't know:

     The vegetables when they started to grow in this plot seemed pretty sickly until one day a group of medical students doused them with antibug powder...

   • 1972, The Popular Science Monthly:

     Use it with an antibug candle and it wards off pests while it lights your patio.

   • 2009, Terra Wellington, The Mom's Guide to Growing Your Family Green:

     Replace your outdoor porch lights with antibug lights, which have a special yellow coating...

2. Serving to counteract bugs (surveillance devices).
   • 1975, Alan LeMond, Ron Fry, No place to hide:

     The infinity mike and the harmonica bug have the great advantage of being undetectable by an antibug detector.

   • 1991, John C Klotter, Jacqueline R Kanovitz, Constitutional Law, 1992 Supplement:

     Also, bugs are subject to malfunction and discovery, especially as sophisticated antibug devices have been developed.

   • 1998, Robert Ludlum, The Matarese Countdown:

     Breaking antibug commercial phones was no problem for the intercepting devices of the government.

Anagrams

• tabuing